Providence of the Gods

297, Lot: 394. Estimate $750. Sold for $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 5.35 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 119-121. Laureate bust right, slight drapery / PROVIDENTIA DEORVM, Hadrian, togate, standing facing, head left, about to receive scepter from eagle. RIC II 589b; Banti 617. In NGC encapsulation graded Ch XF, Strike 5/5, Surface 2/5, light smoothing.

This fascinating reverse type is meant to emphasize the legitimacy of Hadrian's rule: Jupiter's symbol, the eagle, bestowing to the emperor a scepter.