Dupondius Hadrian - arrival in Judea

HADRIAN. Æ Dupondius. Rome, circa 131-132 AD. Obv. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P Bare headed and draped bust right Rev. ADVENTVI AVG IVDAEAE, S C in exergue, Hadrian standing right, holding scroll in raised hand, facing Judaea standing left, who holds patera and cup (or box), preparing to sacrifice at altar between them; small boy standing before Judaea, another behind, each holding a palm frond; sacrificial calf at base of altar. RIC 892v (R); C. 58 (10 F) Between the years AD 119 and 136, the emperor Hadrian travelled throughout the Roman Empire, visiting various provinces to take stock of his inheritance and calm the disquiet which had arisen in the later years of Trajan's reign. His travels can be divided into two major episodes. The first tour was designed to shore-up Rome's northern borders and began sometime around AD 119 when Hadrian first visited the provinces of Gaul and Germania Inferior and Superior. The emperor then crossed the Channel to Britannia where, during his stay, construction began on a seventy-three-mile long wall across the north of the province, known to this day as Hadrian's Wall. In AD 122-123, Hadrian spent time in Hispania, then travelled east to Asia Minor. The remainder of this first tour was spent in the Balkans and Greece, touring such areas as Dacia and Achaea, before returning to Rome, via Sicily, in AD 126. Hadrian's second tour began in AD 128, when he set out on a short tour of the provinces of Africa and Mauretania. Returning for a brief stay in Rome, in AD 130 Hadrian then went again to Asia Minor, and continued into Syria, Judaea, Palestine, and, finally, Egypt. The bar-Kochba revolt in Judaea forced Hadrian to remain in the region until AD 135. In AD 136 Hadrian returned to Italia, ending his long travels.To commemorate these travels, Hadrian issued a variety of types in multiple denominations relating to each of the provinces he visited. For Judaea, he issued two types, inscribed IVDAEA and ADVENTVI AVG IVDAEA, respectively. Both show Hadrian facing Judaea, who stands prepared to sacrifice at an altar between them, and is flanked by two children holding palms. Although Hadrian visited Judaea in the Summer of AD 130, it is likely that these two issues, as well as all Hadrian's travel series coins, were struck after Hadrian concluded his journeys. Although many cataloguers date the various travel coins to the date he visited a particular province, most scholarly treatments of his reign date them all to the last part of his reign: RIC places them circa AD 134-138, BMCRE places them circa AD 135-138, while Hill (P.V. Hill, "The Dating and Arrangement of Hadrian's 'COS III' Coins of the Mint of Rome" in Essays Baldwin) dates them to AD 136-137 (with these two Judaean types in AD 136).[CNG] "I would date the travel series earlier, c. 131-2 AD. The occasion appears to have been Hadrian's safe return from his second great tour. The travel series certainly comes very near the beginning of the large issue with obv. legend HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P. Assuming an even production of denarii year by year from 128 until 138 (a big "if", of course), that issue will have begun c. 131. A large proportion of Hill's datings are, unfortunately, pure speculation, not based on any solid evidence whatever." [C. Clay on one of my other coins] Much rarer than the Sestertius type. Same dies as the only other one in acsearch.info: [IMG]http://www.acsearch.info/images/37/363884.jpg[/IMG]