Trajan Orichalcum Dupondius, RIC II Trajan 411

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

The monetary system of the early Roman Empire relied on a strictly regulated hierarchy of gold, silver, and base-metal denominations, organized under the reforms of Augustus and maintained through the Flavian and adoptive emperors. Within this structure, the dupondius occupied a critical intermediate position, valued at two asses or half a sestertius, with eight dupondii equivalent to a silver denarius. While the sestertius served as both an accounting unit and a high-impact visual canvas for public policy, the dupondius and the as formed the primary currency of everyday urban transactions, retail purchases, and market labor. Base-metal issues provided liquidity throughout Italy and the provinces, where bronze and brass tokens filled commercial niches unsuitable for precious metals. To ensure unambiguous distinction between the copper as and the brass dupondius, which were often similar in physical diameter, imperial mints struck the dupondius in orichalcum (a bright golden brass alloy of copper and zinc) and distinguished the imperial portrait with a radiate crown, in contrast to the laureate wreath typically reserved for the as. In the early reign of Trajan, stabilizing the aes coinage was paramount. The brief reign of Nerva had seen fiscal strain and gifts to the military and populace, requiring Trajan to reaffirm imperial credit, distribute regular subventions, and ensure that base-metal denominations were minted in reliable quantities and predictable metallic standards.

Mint Production and Metallurgical Standards

All regular imperial aes coinage for this issue was struck centrally at the mint of Rome. The Rome mint operated as a highly structured administrative and industrial workshop capable of preparing refined metal blanks, engraving matched obverse and reverse dies, and striking coins under the supervision of the senatorial tresviri monetales and imperial procurators. The dupondius under Trajan adhered to the traditional weight standard established during the late first century AD, with average specimen weights clustering broadly between 11.0 and 13.5 grams, and flan diameters typically measuring around 26 to 28 millimeters. The alloy employed was orichalcum, prized for its golden luster when fresh from the dies. Metallurgical analyses of Trajanic aes indicate that the zinc content of orichalcum, which had reached 20 percent or more under the early Julio-Claudians, had experienced a gradual decline by the end of the first century due to the routine remelting of circulating scrap brass. Even with reduced zinc percentages, the alloy maintained a distinctive golden hue that visibly differentiated the dupondius from the redder unalloyed copper of the as. The striking process involved manual alignment of blanks between upper and lower dies, leading to normal minor variations in axis orientation, strike centering, and flan thickness across surviving specimens.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Representation

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 411 presents a mature, idealized portrait of Trajan facing right, crowned with the radiate solar crown. In Roman imperial iconology, the radiate crown had evolved from an emblem of posthumous deification under Augustus into an attribute of living emperors denoting cosmic protection, solar majesty, and the specific denomination of the dupondius. Trajan's physiognomy on issues of his second and third consulships marks a departure from the aged, fragile realism seen in portraits of Nerva and the heavier, fleshy contours of Domitian. The portrait displays firm, straight facial planes, a sharp jawline, close-cropped hair combed forward in low waves over the brow, and a pronounced, straight nose. This portrait style, established shortly after his accession, conveyed sobriety, military discipline, and civic virtus. The die engravers captured an authoritative yet modest demeanor suitable to an emperor who cultivated an image as civilis princeps, a first citizen respectful of traditional senatorial liberties. The truncation of the neck is left bare, focusing complete visual attention on the radiate crown and the imperial physiognomy.

Reverse Iconography of Abundantia

The reverse type portrays Abundantia, the personification of agricultural plenty, economic fertility, and imperial bounty, seated facing left. She rests upon an elaborate chair whose structural frame is formed of two crossed cornucopiae, their spiraling bodies and fruited terminals serving as the legs and support. In her right hand, Abundantia holds an upright sceptre, an attribute signifying divine oversight, majesty, and administrative rule. The motif of crossed cornucopiae beneath a seated divinity or personification was an established Roman artistic convention symbolizing an overflowing foundation of state resources. By visually uniting the sceptre with the crossed horns of plenty, the design credited imperial governance with securing the empire's material welfare. This message possessed acute political relevance during the opening years of Trajan's reign. The administration placed significant emphasis on safeguarding the annona (the grain supply for the capital), curbing provincial extortions, and laying the groundwork for public welfare programs, culminating in the formal alimentary schemes. The presence of Abundantia reassured the population that the new regime brought both military security and domestic prosperity.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The legends on RIC II Trajan 411 document Trajan's early constitutional powers and imperial nomenclature. The obverse inscription reads IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM P M, expanding as Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus. This sequence highlights his formal adoption by Nerva, his supreme military command through the title Imperator, the august name of the dynasty, his victory title Germanicus acquired during his Rhine campaigns in late AD 97, and his position as chief priest of the Roman state religion. The reverse legend continues his civil magistrates: TR POT COS III P P S C. This expands to Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Tertium, Pater Patriae, Senatus Consulto. The recording of his third consulship (COS III) dates the issue firmly to AD 100, while the title Pater Patriae (Father of his Country) confirms his formal acceptance of this senatorial honor in late AD 98. The large letters S C (Senatus Consulto) flanking Abundantia maintain the long-standing legal convention that imperial base-metal coinage was issued under the nominal authority and decree of the Senate, an outward demonstration of concordia between the princeps and the curia.

Typological Series and Chronology

RIC II Trajan 411 belongs to the extensive coin series produced for Trajan's third consulship, which commenced on 1 January AD 100. In older numismatic arrangements, such as the initial volumes of Roman Imperial Coinage, types displaying TR POT COS III were sometimes assigned a broader span across AD 99 and 100 due to ambiguities regarding the calendar timing of Tribunician renewals and preparations for the consular year. Modern systematic studies, notably Bernhard Woytek's Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus, place the striking of this specific emission securely within AD 100, corresponding to Woytek type 89b. The type is closely linked to companion issues across metals, including denarii and sestertii that employ parallel reverse themes of Pax, Iustitia, Concordia, and Abundantia. Within the dupondius denomination, RIC 411 is distinguished by its specific combination of the radiate bust right without drapery, the seated Abundantia holding a sceptre on crossed cornucopiae, and the uninterrupted reverse legend TR POT COS III P P. Minor die variations exist among individual die pairs, particularly in the spacing of letters around the flan and the precise curvature of the cornucopiae, but the essential compositional elements remain standardized across the emission.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Once released into circulation from Rome, dupondii of RIC II 411 traveled widely along established commercial arteries and military supply routes. Archaeological finds and stratified site excavations demonstrate that Trajanic aes circulated extensively across Italy, Gaul, the Iberian peninsula, the Rhine and Danube frontiers, and Britain. Because base-metal denominations were not routinely hoarded for wealth preservation in the same manner as gold aurei or silver denarii, individual specimens are most commonly recovered as single site finds in settlements, military forts, and urban market contexts. When dupondii appear in hoards, they usually occur in large mixed deposits of aes accumulated over decades or centuries. Due to the high intrinsic utility and durability of orichalcum, coins of this type often remained in active circulation for several generations, frequently continuing in commercial use well into the Antonine and Severan eras. Long-term circulation caused many surviving specimens to display substantial surface wear, smoothing the delicate radiate details of the obverse portrait and the finer relief elements of Abundantia's sceptre and cornucopiae.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 154-156
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 275, no. 411
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 411. ric.2.tr.411
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). MIR 14, no. 89b