Hadrian. AD 117-138. AE Sestertius, 34mm, 24.91 g. Rome, Struck AD 119-121. 

IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG PM TR P COS III, laureate 
bust right, drapery on far shoulder.
RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOLITA, S-C, Lictor standing 
left, holding fasces, setting fire to heap of (debts) bonds 
on the ground to left with torch. 

RIC II 590b; BMC 1206; Cohen 1210; Mazzini 1210 (this coin). 

VF, glossy dark green patina, some minor roughness on either side.

From the White Mountain Collection.

In 118 AD, whilst Hadrian was in Moesia, four high ranking 
senators, Lucius Quietus, Cornelius Palma, L. Publius Celsus 
and C. Avidius were executed in Rome by the senate for an 
alleged conspiracy against Hadrian, despite a promise by 
Hadrian not to execute members of the Senate. To calm a suspicious public, Hadrian held a week long gladiatorial 
show, granted an extra public largesse and, as this coin 
advertises, relinquished the public debt to the state 
equalling 900 million sestertii. This event culminated in an 
elaborate ceremony held in the Forum of Trajan where all 
records of these debts were set on fire.

CNG Electronic Auction 202, Jan. 2009, lot 260.
Sold for high bid of $818
Used with permission of CNG coins, www.cngcoins.com, May, 2009