Sabina. Augusta, AD 128-136/7. AR Denarius (18mm, 2.96 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Hadrian, circa AD 131-135. Draped bust right, wearing stephane, hair falling in plait down neck / Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera and resting arm on statuette of Spes set on low base; cornucopia below throne. RIC II 398 (Hadrian); Abdy,
Chronology, New Group 4; RSC 12. Bright surfaces. Near EF.
Vibia Sabina was the favorite niece of the childless emperor Trajan. Sabina married the 24-year-old Hadrian in AD 100, marking him out as the likely successor to the throne, although his position was never formalized until just before Trajan's death in AD 117. Hadrian and Sabina's 36-year marriage remained childless and the union appears to have been coldly cordial at best. Sabina was not formally named Augusta, or Empress, until AD 128, perhaps to coincide with Hadrian receiving the title of Pater Patriae from the Senate. Her coinage commences at this time and falls into two distinct portrait types, one with her hair arranged in an elaborate “up do” like that of the Trajanic empresses Matidia and Marciana, and one with a simpler coiffeur with a single plait in back, as seen here.
