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Description

Echoes of a Troubled Union

CILICIA. Aegeae. Hadrian (AD 117-138). AR tridrachm (25mm, 9.77 gm, 6h). NGC VF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, brushed. Dated Regnal Year 180 (AD 133/4). ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙΣ ΤΡΑΙ-ΑΝΟΣ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΣ ΣΕΒ Π Π (Π Π ligate), bare head of Hadrian left, drapery on shoulders / ΣΑΒΙΝΑ ΣΕΒΑ-ΑΙΓΕΑΙΩΝ ΠΡ (date), diademed, draped bust of Sabina right; goat left below bust, head reverted. RPC III 3352. High reliefs with champagne toning.

Vibia Sabina, born in AD 83, was the great-niece of Trajan and was raised in his household along with her half-sister. Cassius Dio records that Trajan's wife, Plotina, arranged Sabina's marriage to Hadrian in AD 117, thereby securing his connection to the imperial family. Throughout Hadrian's reign, Sabina traveled widely at his side, and her image appeared frequently on coinage, often associated with virtues such as Pudicitia and Concordia. Ancient sources, however, depict their marriage as troubled, with the Historia Augusta reporting her complaints and repeating the unsubstantiated rumor that Hadrian poisoned her. Sabina died around AD 136 and was posthumously deified, remembered as Diva Sabina in inscriptions and through an enduring legacy of portraiture and coinage.


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Auction Info

Auction Dates
October, 2025
6th Monday
Internet/Mail Bids: 39
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
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Sold on Oct 6, 2025 for: $1,020.00
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