Trajan Bronze As, RIC II Trajan 392

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

In the monetary system established during the early Principate and maintained through the late first century AD, the copper as served as the practical workhorse of small-scale daily transactions. Under Trajan, the bimetallic and base-metal denominations adhered to the framework stabilised by Augustus and regulated by the Flavian dynasty. The as was valued as one-quarter of a sestertius, one-half of a dupondius, and one-sixteenth of a silver denarius. While the larger sestertius and dupondius were manufactured from orichalcum (a brass alloy of copper and zinc with a golden hue), the as was traditionally struck in unalloyed or nearly pure red copper (aes). This visual and metallurgical distinction enabled users throughout the empire to differentiate immediately between the similarly sized dupondius and as, even after extensive surface wear had softened their relief. RIC II Trajan 392 fulfilled an essential civic role by providing predictable token currency for local market trade, stipends, and day-to-day retail exchange within Italy and the western provinces. The inclusion of the mark S C (Senatus Consulto) on the reverse perpetuated the traditional division of institutional authority, asserting senatorial oversight over regular base-metal striking at Rome while the princeps exercised sovereign administrative command over the imperial mint.

Mint Attribution and Production Technology

Numismatic consensus securely assigns RIC II Trajan 392 to the imperial mint in Rome, which handled all primary bronze issues for the central Mediterranean administration during the early years of Trajan's reign. Production of the denomination required cast planchets hammered between engraved iron dies within a manual striking process. The blanks for copper asses were typically cast in prepared mould trays, leaving characteristic bevelled edges and occasional small sprue traces before being brought to red heat or cold-hammered between upper and lower dies. The Rome mint organised its operations into specific workshops (officinae), which maintained strict oversight over standard weights, die alignment, and metallurgical purity. Surviving specimens of the early Trajanic asses generally center around an empirical weight standard of approximately 9.5 to 11.5 grams and diameters ranging between 26 and 28 millimetres, although individual flans exhibit natural production variance common to ancient struck coinage. The dies for RIC II Trajan 392 reflect the high technical and artistic proficiency of the Rome engraving studios, executing crisp lettering and finely modulated relief that transitioned the visual style of the mint away from the somewhat gaunt, aged realism of Nerva toward a robust, sober classicism characteristic of the Optimus Princeps.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 392 presents a right-facing, laureate head of Trajan, rendered without drapery at the neck truncation. This portrait belongs to Trajan's earliest iconographic group, sometimes classified in scholarship as the accession or adoption portrait type. It combines features reminiscent of Nerva, such as an aquiline profile and prominent brow, with the firmer jawline, straight-cut fringe of hair across the forehead, and muscular neck that became the signature traits of Trajan's permanent portrait tradition. The laurel wreath (corona laurea), tied at the back of the head with two pendent ribbons fluttering downward, serves as an explicit visual symbol of imperial majesty, military imperium, and triumph, reflecting Trajan's established reputation as an elite commander along the Rhine and Danube frontiers prior to his elevation. The die-cutters executed the hair in parallel, lightly curved locks running forward toward the brow, creating a structured and austere impression that stood in stark contrast to the flamboyant coiffures favored by Domitian. The placement of the laureate head within a tight inner field ensures maximum visibility for the surrounding inscription, which announces Trajan's full administrative titles in clear, well-spaced capital letters.

Reverse Imagery: Pietas and Civic Piety

The reverse design depicts Pietas standing facing forward with her head turned to the left, draped in long traditional Roman robes (stola and palla) with her head veiled (capite velato). Her right hand is extended downward and outward in an attitude of sacrifice above a small, lighted altar positioned on the left side of the field. Her left hand is resting reverently against her breast, an ancient Roman gesture signifying inward devotion, emotional integrity, and religious submission to divine will. Flanking the lower central figure are the large initials S and C, set into the left and right fields to proclaim the authority of the senatorial decree. Pietas personified one of the most critical ideological concepts of the early Principate, encompassing not merely religious piety toward the traditional pantheon, but also dutiful familial affection, political loyalty, and moral obligation toward the state. In the immediate aftermath of Nerva's death in January AD 98, this visual presentation had profound political resonance. It emphasised Trajan's filial devotion toward his adoptive father, who had been formally consecrated as Divus Nerva, and reassured the Roman elite that the newly ascended provincial soldier would govern with deep respect for sacred traditions, constitutional pietas, and the senatorial order.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The epigraphic program of RIC II Trajan 392 provides precise chronological boundaries and reveals the official formulation of Trajan's early imperial identity. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM P M, transcribing the abbreviated Latin: Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus. This inscription documents his descent from the adoptive line through the continued use of Nerva, his supreme civil and religious leadership through Augustus and Pontifex Maximus, and his military distinction through Germanicus, a title bestowed during Nerva's reign in late AD 97 to commemorate operations on the Rhine frontier. The reverse carries the abbreviated continuation of his civil magistracies: TR POT COS II S C, representing Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Secundum, Senatus Consulto. The tribunician power denoted his sacrosanct civil authority, while the designation COS II explicitly confirms that the coin was produced during his second consulship, which commenced on January 1, AD 98. The absence of COS III, which Trajan assumed on January 1, AD 100, firmly anchors the minting of this type to AD 98 and 99. The lettering is rendered in regular Roman monumental epigraphy, with square serifs, uniform letter heights, and minimal use of ligature, reflecting the mint of Rome's standard typographic rigor.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

Catalogued under number 392 in the second volume of The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC II) and integrated into modern typological databases such as Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE), this issue is grouped among the initial aes productions of Trajan's principate. In Bernhard Woytek's comprehensive monograph Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14), early bronze issues bearing COS II are classified within the first major emission sequence from Rome (specifically MIR 57a). The type is closely linked chronologically and thematically to corresponding sestertii and dupondii that similarly paired the Pietas motif with the second consulship, forming a cohesive multi-denominational release in copper-alloy. Because Trajan spent the first eighteen months of his sole reign inspecting frontiers along the Rhine and Danube before making his formal triumphal entry into Rome in the autumn of AD 99, the production of RIC II Trajan 392 was managed by mint officials operating in the capital during the emperor's physical absence. The type ceased production before the close of AD 99, when die-engravers began preparing new master dies incorporating the third consulship (COS III) for the monetary issues of AD 100.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Recovery

As a base-metal coin struck in unalloyed copper, RIC II Trajan 392 entered circulation primarily within the urban markets of Rome, central Italy, and the military zones of the European provinces. Asses played a vital role in everyday micro-transactions, passing rapidly through hand-to-hand commerce to purchase grain, wine, oil, clothing, and everyday services. Due to this high velocity of circulation, specimens recovered from archaeological excavations and stray river finds frequently display extensive wear, corrosion, and edge flattening. The extensive deployment of Roman legions along the Rhine and Danube corridors during Trajan's early pacification campaigns created strong demand for base-metal cash, leading to substantial shipments of freshly struck Rome-mint asses to frontier castra and auxiliary forts. Findspot distributions compiled in regional corpus studies indicate that Trajanic asses remained in active circulation for decades, frequently surviving alongside earlier Flavian and Nervan copper pieces well into the mid-second century AD until successive reductions in base-metal production and prolonged wear finally drove them out of circulation or into hoard deposits.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 147-150
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC II Trajan 392. ric.2.tr.392
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 275, no. 392
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). type 57a