Page 18 - January1960

t6 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN January, 1960

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HADRIAN, ruled 117-138. His r€ign was one of the happiest in Roman his-
tory since he (in contrast to so many other emperors) promoted peace and pre-
ferred developing the provinces to devastating fhem. He encouraged the arts
and constructed magnificent buildings in Rome, Athens and elsewhere. The
Floman Wall in Britain was his idea.
No. 13 "Imp/Caesar/Ttaian/Hadrianvs/Avg" The inclusion of "Traian" in the
inscription is explained by the fact that Hadrian was the heir of the Emperor
Trajan.
No. 14 Inscription as above, but difierent head.
No. 15 "Hadrianvs/Avg/Cos III/PP" The third year of Hadrian's consulship
was 119. This button is silver.
No. 16 Caption in Greek and mosily illegible. This button is cast, not stamp-
ed. The broken edge is not slip-shod work on the part of the button maker-tre
was following his model. Nor is it an indication of how worn the model was.
Nor yet of how unskilled the ancient metal worker was. Originally the mints
gave coins a serrated edge to show that they were made of solid metal, good all
the way thru, not just on the outside. fn time the notches were used purely as
a symbol of sound money.
By Hadrian's time Roman money was the medium of international trade, the