Trajan Orichalcum Dupondius (RIC II Trajan 563)

Monetary Context and the Role of the Dupondius

The monetary system of the early Roman Empire operated on a carefully structured bimetallic and base-metal hierarchy established by Augustus and largely maintained through the early second century AD. Within this scheme, the dupondius functioned as a vital middle denomination worth two asses or half a sestertius, with eight dupondii equivalent to one silver denarius. While the sestertius served as the flagship large bronze denomination for monumental imperial display and high-volume accounting, and the as accommodated minor daily marketplace transactions, the dupondius occupied a crucial intermediate tier essential for fluid retail commerce, troop payments, and administrative distributions. To ensure rapid visual discrimination between denominations of similar module, the Roman administration differentiated the dupondius from the copper as through both metal composition and portrait conventions. The dupondius was struck in orichalcum, an alloy of copper and zinc that possessed a radiant golden-yellow luster when freshly minted, in contrast to the reddish color of pure unalloyed copper used for the as. Because zinc was more costly to refine via the calamine cementation process, orichalcum held a higher intrinsic value, allowing the dupondius to circulate at roughly twice the purchasing power of an as of comparable physical weight. Furthermore, from the reign of Nero onward, imperial mints standardized the use of the radiate crown on the emperor's portrait to designate the double unit, a convention carried forward systematically on the dupondius of Trajan.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

RIC II Trajan 563 was produced exclusively by the imperial mint in Rome, which handled virtually all regular base-metal striking for the western and central administration. Production occurred during a period of massive logistical mobilization following the conclusion of the Dacian campaigns, when vast quantities of captured bullion, particularly Dacian gold and silver, enriched the imperial aerarium and stimulated unprecedented public building projects and monetary issues. Orichalcum flans for the dupondius were manufactured by casting blanks in gang-moulds or cutting them from cast rods, followed by annealing to prepare the metal for high-pressure striking between engraved iron dies. In this period, the targeted weight standard for the Trajanic dupondius generally clustered between 11.5 and 14.5 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 26 and 28 millimeters, though considerable weight variation occurred across individual batches due to the al marco minting technique where a set number of coins was struck from a given pound of alloy. The metal composition during Trajan's fifth consulship shows evidence of gradual adjustments in zinc content, as re-melted scrap orichalcum was progressively integrated into coin alloys, yet the mint maintained rigorous quality standards in engraving, die alignment, and flan preparation for Rome's principal bronze issues.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Image

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 563 presents an authoritative portrait of Trajan facing right. The emperor is shown wearing the radiate crown, the spikes of which project upward from his hair to evoke solar divinity and provide the unmistakable visual token of the dupondius denomination. The bust displays light drapery across the left shoulder, leaving the muscular neck and throat exposed in the classicizing, heroic manner favored by Trajan's official portraiture. Artistically, this portrait belongs to Trajan's mature 'Decennalia' iconographic type, developed around AD 107 to mark the tenth anniversary of his accession. The features are sharply defined and restrained: a low forehead with bangs combed straight forward in the Julio-Claudian tradition, a firm aquiline nose, prominent cheekbones, and a wide, determined jawline. This sober, soldierly physiognomy deliberately rejected the ostentatious dynastic luxury of the Flavians in favor of Republican gravitas, presenting Trajan as the tireless imperator and civic protector.

Reverse Design: Mourning Dacia and the Trophy

The reverse of the coin bears an evocative political allegory commemorating the defeat of Decebalus and the annexation of Dacia. A female personification representing the newly conquered province of Dacia is depicted seated to the left in an unmistakable posture of deep sorrow and subjugation. She rests upon a carefully composed mound of captured equipment, including large oblong shields of Celtic-Dacian design and curved curved-blade weapons. Her head rests upon or tilts downward toward her hand in the established Hellenistic and Roman iconographic formula for grief and captivity. Erected immediately before her on the left is a towering Roman trophy (tropaeum). The trophy consists of captured barbarian armor, shields, and spears mounted upon a wooden post or truncated tree trunk, symbolizing the decisive battlefield triumph of the legions. Flanking the scene or placed in the lower fields is the abbreviation S C (Senatus Consulto), reflecting the traditional senatorial authority over aes production. This composition conveyed an explicit narrative to Roman citizens: through the leadership of Trajan and the favor of the gods, a ferocious northern threat had been utterly dismantled and transformed into an obedient, wealth-producing province of the empire.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse inscription of RIC II Trajan 563 reads: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P. Rendered in full, this formula reads Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae. This elaborate titulature, cast in the dative case (Traiano Augusto), indicates that the coinage was symbolically offered or dedicated to the emperor in recognition of his extraordinary benefactions and military accomplishments. The title Dacicus, officially assumed late in AD 102, is prominently displayed alongside Germanicus, won under Nerva in AD 97. The reverse inscription reads: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, accompanied by S C in the field or exergue. This legend expands as Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi ('The Senate and the Roman People, to the Best of Princes') Senatus Consulto ('By decree of the Senate'). The honorific epithet Optimus Princeps had been conferred informally on Trajan early in his reign and was increasingly emphasized on the coinage from AD 103 onward, celebrating his justice, generosity, and harmonious relationship with the senatorial order. Together, the obverse and reverse legends establish a complete ideological dialogue between the emperor, the Senate, and the Roman citizenry.

Typology and Chronological Classification

RIC II Trajan 563 belongs to the extensive fifth consulship (COS V) series of Trajan, spanning from AD 103 until his sixth consulship commenced on January 1, AD 112. In the traditional framework of the Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), compiled by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, this type is catalogued among the bronze issues of AD 103 to 111. While the titular formula remained technically unchanged across this eight-year span, modern numismatic research, particularly the definitive corpus of Bernhard Woytek (Moneta Imperii Romani 14), has refined the chronological arrangement of Trajan's bronze coinage based on portrait styles, reverse drapery details, and hoard context. The Dacia seated before a trophy design was struck across multiple denominations, appearing simultaneously on aurei, denarii, sestertii, and dupondii. Within this broader typological group, RIC II Trajan 563 is defined precisely by its denomination (dupondius in orichalcum), its radiate and draped bust facing right, and its specific reverse layout of mourning Dacia seated left facing a trophy. Numismatists distinguish this type from contemporary sestertii that employ a broader flan and laureate bust, as well as distinct dupondius varieties featuring bare-headed portraits, differing bust drapery (such as fully draped or cuirassed forms), or alternate placements of the trophy and captive shields.

Circulation, Hoarding, and Archaeological Context

Base-metal dupondii of Trajan circulated widely throughout the western and Danubian provinces, as well as in Italy. Because the dupondius was an everyday monetary unit used in markets, taverns, and administrative payments, specimens of RIC II Trajan 563 underwent long periods of active circulation, often resulting in significant surface wear and the smoothing of fine reverse details on surviving examples. The bright brassy color of the orichalcum alloy was gradually obscured over years of handling by dark green or brown copper-carbonate patinas. In archaeological contexts, Trajanic dupondii are frequently recovered from site finds along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, military castra, and major urban centers in Britannia, Gaul, and the Iberian Peninsula. Unlike gold and silver coins, which were frequently buried in times of crisis and retrieved in pristine state, dupondii were less commonly hoarded in large savings deposits, though they regularly appear in mixed aes hoards of the second and early third centuries. Countermarking is occasionally observed on western finds, though it occurs far less frequently on Trajanic issues than on earlier Julio-Claudian bronzes. Many Trajanic dupondii remained in active circulation for several generations, circulating well into the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, until mid-third-century inflation and monetary debasement reduced the functional utility of early imperial base-metal denominations.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 182-184
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. pp. 284-285, no. 563
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 563. ric.2.tr.563
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). Typ 327