HADRIAN
AD 117-138
AR Denarius. 3.0g, 19mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 124-125
REF: RIC II.3 716; RSC 328
OBVERSE: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, laureate bust right, slight drapery.
REVERSE: COS III, Concordia seated left, holding patera and resting arm on statuette of Spes on column at side of throne.
 
Provenance:
Ex Cardinal Joachim Meisner Collection, with old collector's handwritten tag
Cardinal Meisner (1933-2017) was a leading figure in the Roman Catholic church, serving as Archbishop of Cologne from 1989 to 2014.  He was a close friend to both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  After he passed away in 2017, his private collection of antiquities was auctioned off, with the proceeds going to the Cardinal Meisner Foundation of Cologne.
 
Notes:
Well-centered, with beautiful, elegant iridescent toning.   A few light scratches under toning and minor surface lamination cracks.    
 
Historical Notes:
Hadrian was a capable but complex emperor - he could be ascetic in taste, dressing simply and sleeping and dining with regular soldiers, but he was at the same time a passionate admirer of Greek culture and an active patron of artistes and architects.  He began extensive building projects during his reign, not only in Rome, but in many cities throughout his vast empire.  Hadrian's Wall in Britain, and the reconstructed Pantheon in Rome, and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli are some of his most famous architectural legacies.  

He was known as perennial traveler, spending more than half of his reign outside Italy.  Perhaps his most well-known series of coins is the so-called 'Travel series', various types struck bearing the names and personifications of the provinces visited by the emperor.  Hadrian was also well-known for his open homosexual relationship with Greek youth, Antinous, who drowned while travelling with the emperor in Egypt, and who was thereafter deified by him.