Trajan Bronze As, RIC II Trajan 510 (as)

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the High Roman Empire, the monetary system was structured around a bimetallic and base-metal hierarchy anchored by the gold aureus and silver denarius, supported by an array of token aes denominations struck in orichalcum (brass) and copper. Within this framework, the as served as the fundamental working unit for retail trade, routine daily expenses, local market purchases, and minor military cash stipends. Valued at one-sixteenth of a silver denarius and one-fourth of an orichalcum sestertius, the as maintained a stable exchange value within imperial domestic markets. While higher-denomination coins such as sestertii offered larger flans for complex imperial iconography and denarii handled tax obligations and state-level military payouts, asses were struck in substantial quantities to ensure fluidity in everyday commercial exchanges. The issue classified as RIC II Trajan 510 (as) belongs to an expansive output of base-metal coinage sanctioned during the middle phase of Trajan's reign. Struck by authority of the Roman Senate, indicated by the standard formula Senatus Consulto (S C), this type represents the standard base-metal medium through which the citizenry encountered official imperial messaging concerning the pacification and conquest of Dacia.

Production Standards and Mint Allocation

The entire regular production of RIC II Trajan 510 (as) is securely attributed to the imperial mint situated in Rome. Following administrative reforms of the late Flavian period and early Principate, centralized mass-production of base-metal coinage for the western empire was concentrated at Rome, where skilled die-engravers and flan-casters operated under the direction of imperial procurators. Asses of this period adhered to the physical standards established under Augustus, being struck from unalloyed red copper rather than the golden-colored brass alloy (orichalcum) reserved for the sestertius and dupondius. Asses of Trajan's fifth consulship generally conform to a target weight standard centering between 9.5 and 11.5 grams, with typical diameters ranging from 26 to 28 millimeters, although substantial weight fluctuations naturally occurred as flans were cast and adjusted al marco rather than tailored to exact individual tolerances. Striking was performed by manual sledge striking of hot- or cold-prepared cast blanks between fixed lower obverse dies and mobile upper reverse dies, resulting in die axes that predominantly cluster at 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock positions.

Obverse Iconography and Variations

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 510 (as) showcases a mature, imperial portrait of Trajan facing right. The emperor is depicted with a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with ribbon ties falling toward the shoulders. The bust is modeled with characteristic Flavian-Trajanic realism: a low forehead, pronounced straight nose, firm jawline, and neatly brushed fringe of straight hair. The bust truncation routinely displays drapery over the left shoulder, creating a three-dimensional military or civic bearing. Noteworthy die variations exist across the series. While the draped shoulder constitutes the primary form described in standard references, specialized dies incorporate an aegis, the mythic goatskin protective mantle associated with Jupiter and Minerva, positioned upon the shoulder. This attribute visually reinforces the emperor's divine protection and martial supremacy. Engravers at the Rome mint executed these portraits with considerable sculptural relief, reflecting the peak technical refinement of Trajanic imperial portraiture.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design presents an elaborate allegorical tableau featuring Pax, the divine personification of Peace, seated upon an elaborate throne facing left. In her right hand, she extends an olive branch, the universal classical symbol of reconciliation and benign governance; in her left hand, she holds a tall vertical sceptre signifying royal authority and divinely sanctioned order. Beneath Pax, situated at her feet on the right, kneels a Dacian captive facing toward her in an attitude of supplication. The captive barbarian is traditionally depicted in distinctive northern attire, including native trousers (braccae) and a soft tunic, with bowed head and extended arms pleading for clemency. This composition encapsulates the official imperial ideology of pax parit victoriam (peace won through victory) and the clemency of the princeps. Rather than celebrating mere slaughter, the coin conveys the pacification and political integration of Dacia following Trajan's successful military campaigns, emphasizing that true peace is preserved through Rome's decisive martial dominance.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphic structure of RIC II Trajan 510 (as) integrates official imperial nomenclature with public senatorial honors. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, expanding to Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae. This sequence is presented in the dative case (Traiano Augusto), indicating that the coinage was formally dedicated to the emperor by the Senate and the Roman people. The titles Germanicus (awarded in AD 97) and Dacicus (assumed late in AD 102) mark his victorious campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. The formula COS V anchors the issue securely to Trajan's fifth consulship, which commenced on January 1, AD 103, and was held continuously until he entered his sixth consulship in AD 112. The reverse legend is divided between the perimeter inscription and the field. The outer inscription reads S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, expanding to Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi (The Senate and the Roman People to the Best of Princes). Trajan had been hailed unofficially as Optimus early in his reign, an appellation that became central to state propaganda from AD 103 onward. In the lower field, flanking the seated figure of Pax, are the large letters S C (Senatus Consulto), validating that this base-metal issue was struck by formal senatorial decree.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the classical classification of Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage, this coin is catalogued as RIC II Trajan 510 in the denomination of the as. The broader series includes parallel versions struck in brass as sestertii and dupondii featuring closely related Dacian and Pax imagery, yet RIC 510 represents the specific pure-copper manifestation with the laureate bust draped on the left shoulder. In his comprehensive chronological corpus of Trajanic coinage (Moneta Imperii Romani 14), Bernhard Woytek refined the dating of the COS V Optimo Principi issues. While the broader RIC classification permits a broad date bracket of AD 103 to 111, numismatic analysis of hoard sequences and stylistic groups places the active minting of the Pax and kneeling Dacian reverse motif primarily between AD 103 and 107. This coincides directly with the conclusion of the First Dacian War and the outbreak and triumph of the Second Dacian War (AD 105-106), when the submission of Dacia was the foremost political event commemorated in the capital.

Circulation, Hoarding, and Archaeological Context

As base-metal tokens of modest intrinsic value, asses such as RIC 510 did not generally travel in the vast overseas trade routes frequented by silver denarii and gold aurei. Instead, they circulated heavily within regional internal economies. Extensive archaeological finds demonstrate that Trajanic asses were concentrated in urban Italy, central Gaul, the Iberian peninsula, and the heavily militarized legionary camps along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Asses of this period frequently remained in active commercial circulation for decades, often exhibiting moderate to heavy wear in archaeological deposits dating to the Antonine and Severan eras. Because copper asses were low in denomination, they are seldom recovered in large precious-metal savings hoards; rather, they appear regularly in site finds, ritual votive deposits, river crossings, and daily market lost-coin assemblages, testifying to their pervasive utility in the economic life of the Roman Empire.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 178-180
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 280, no. 510
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 510 (as). ric.2.tr.510_as
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). MIR 14, nos. 200-205