The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal ... - IndianCoins.org

32 J. G. MILNE.in view of their peculiarities in these respects, maybe regarded as the first issue. The obverse types are :A! AVTKAITPAIAAPIANOC APICEBrPAAKnAPA 2AVTKAITPAIAAPIANO CAPICeBrePAAKflAPAVTKAITPAIAAPIANOCAP ICBPPAAKnAPA 3Head r. ,laureate ; paludamentum shown at side of neck ;ends of tie of wreath curled.The legend on these coins isclearly borrowed fromthose of Trajan, passing on to Hadrian titles of hispredecessorto which he had no claim. The sametransfer of titles occurs on some few Roman "imperial"coins of Hadrian, which also may be presumed to havebeen struck in the earliest days of the reign, beforeofficial particulars as to the style of the emperor werefurnished to the mint. Moreover, the head on theAlexandrian coins suggests that the die-engravers hadno authentic portrait of Hadrian to copy, and werereduced, as in the case of the legend, to reproducingTrajan with variations a minor;point of some significanceis the treatment of the ends of the tie of thewreath, which are curled, in accordance with thefashion followed during the last five years of Trajan,but previously unknown on Alexandrian coins ;andthe rather lumpy strip of paludamentum shown by theneck looks as if it had been adapted from the aegisassociated with the head of Trajan on his later issues.Comparatively few coins appear to have been struckwith this obverse type I;have only seen three tetradrachms,all, however, from different dies, and knowof no bronze.The reverse types found with the threevarieties of the obverse are :A T -9(a). A 2 -9(a). A 3-8.