Trajan Copper As, RIC II Trajan 395

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

Under the monetary system established during the Augustan principate and maintained throughout the first and second centuries AD, base-metal coinage fulfilled an essential role in daily market transactions and municipal commerce. The as was valued at four quadrantes, two semisses, or half of a dupondius, with sixteen asses constituting one silver denarius. While dupondii and sestertii were typically struck in orichalcum (brass), the as was traditionally struck in relatively pure unalloyed copper, giving it a distinctive reddish tone compared to the yellow brass denominations. RIC II Trajan 395 belongs to the earliest monetary series of Trajan, who succeeded Nerva in late January of AD 98. Upon his accession, Trajan inherited an empire seeking administrative stabilization. Base-metal issues from the capital served not only as physical currency for domestic spending, military pay, and petty exchange, but also as an indispensable medium for broadcasting the legitimacy, virtues, and political priorities of the new princeps to the Roman population at large.

Mint Operation and Technical Production

RIC II Trajan 395 was produced exclusively by the imperial mint at Rome, which held centralized control over the primary bronze and brass coinage for the western provinces and Italy. The production of copper asses involved casting blank flans in open or two-piece molds, followed by hot striking between hand-carved steel dies. Flans for the as during this period generally weighed between 9.5 and 11.5 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 26 and 28 millimeters, although normal weight variations across individual surviving specimens were substantial due to mass batch-tally manufacturing rather than strict individual blank weighing. The dies were prepared by skilled engravers who maintained stylistic cohesion within the imperial portraiture and iconography. The die alignment for imperial base-metal issues at Rome under Trajan frequently adhered to a standard upright or inverted axis (approximately 6 or 12 o'clock), though minor axis variations occurred during high-volume manual striking.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 395 displays the head of Trajan facing right, adorned with a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with ribbon ties extending downward. The portraiture belongs to Trajan's earliest iconographic group, sometimes termed the accession or early portrait type. In this style, the engravers at the Rome mint captured the features of the new forty-four-year-old emperor with a clean-shaven face, straight Roman nose, compact jawline, and straight hair combed forward onto the forehead in the austere tradition characteristic of classical Republican virtue. This early portraiture still shows subtle stylistic echoes of Nerva's late coinage, as Rome's die-cutters adjusted from rendering the elderly Nerva to depicting the energetic military commander. The laurel wreath symbolizes imperial imperium and triumph, serving as the standard obverse attribute for imperial bronze asses and gold aurei.

Reverse Iconography and Senatorial Sanction

The reverse design features Victory (Victoria), draped in a long stola, advancing toward the left. In her left hand she holds a palm frond slanting across her body or held upright, while with her right hand she supports a circular or oval shield inscribed SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus). Flanking the figure in the lower fields is the large abbreviation S C (Senatus Consulto), divided into the left and right fields. The imagery of Victory was a dominant theme in Trajan's initial coin emissions, highlighting his reputation as an accomplished general who had pacified the Rhine frontier and earned the title Germanicus under Nerva. The shield inscribed with SPQR represents the protective shield of the Roman senate and people, recalling the Augustan clipeus virtutis. By presenting Victory bearing a shield consecrated by the Senate and people, the issue publicly aligned Trajan's military standing with constitutional fidelity and collective Roman approval.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM P M, running clockwise from the lower left. This inscription encapsulates Trajan's formal nomenclature at his accession: Imperator (supreme commander), Caesar, Nerva (asserting his adoptive lineage), Traianus, Augustus, Germanicus (acknowledging his Germanic campaigns), and Pontifex Maximus (chief priest of the Roman state religion). The reverse legend is rendered as TR POT COS II S C, which provides the critical chronological markers for the issue. TR POT signifies Tribunicia Potestate ('with tribunician power'), the core constitutional grant of civilian authority. COS II indicates that Trajan was serving in or had completed his second consulship, entered on January 1, AD 98. The letters S C, expanded as Senatus Consulto ('by decree of the Senate'), denote that the base-metal coinage was authorized in cooperation with the senatorial treasury, maintaining traditional administrative practice.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference classification of The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), this specific type is catalogued as RIC II Trajan 395. In Bernhard Woytek's specialized corpus Moneta Imperii Romani (MIR 14), early issues of this reverse design are categorized within Trajan's first and second issues of Rome. The combination of COS II and early titulature securely dates the type between AD 98 and late 99. Trajan entered his third consulship (COS III) on January 1, AD 100, which led to an immediate revision of the reverse legend across all denominations. A minor variant within the broader reverse motif exists in neighboring types where Victory stands rather than advances, or holds a wreath instead of a shield; however, RIC II Trajan 395 is strictly defined by Victory advancing left carrying the inscribed SPQR shield and palm branch with Trajan's laureate head facing right and the unshortened early obverse legend.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Site Finds

Asses of Trajan struck in AD 98-99 were distributed widely throughout the western territories of the Roman Empire, circulating actively in Italy, Gaul, the Germanic frontier zones, and Britannia. Because bronze asses were lower-value coins compared to silver denarii or orichalcum sestertii, they were less prone to being gathered into long-term savings hoards, appearing predominantly in everyday loss contexts, military camp deposits, river finds, and civilian excavation layers. Wear patterns observed across recovered archaeological specimens show that these early asses frequently circulated for decades, remaining in use well into the Antonine period alongside issues of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius before natural wear rendered their legends illegible. The steady supply of Rome-minted asses along the northern limes played a vital role in monetizing local civilian markets that supplied the legions.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 150-154
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 274, no. 395
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 395. ric.2.tr.395
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117), Moneta Imperii Romani 14. MIR 14, nos. 48-52