Trajan Orichalcum Sestertius, RIC II Trajan 672

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

In the monetary system established under Augustus and maintained through the High Empire, the sestertius served as the largest regular base-metal denomination and the standard unit of account for Roman public and private finances. Tariffed at four copper asses, two brass dupondii, or one-quarter of a silver denarius (with twenty-five denarii constituting an aureus), the sestertius was cast and struck in orichalcum, a golden-toned copper-zinc brass alloy. By the late reign of Trajan, the sestertius had achieved an average intended weight standard fluctuating between 24 and 28 grams with a diameter typically spanning 32 to 35 millimeters, although individual flans varied widely due to contemporary mint tolerances. The broad flan of the sestertius gave it a unique functional role within the Roman economy. While silver denarii and gold aurei moved extensively across long-distance military logistics networks, sestertii facilitated vital medium-value transactions in domestic commerce, state accounting, and civic markets. Furthermore, the expansive physical surfaces of the sestertius enabled the imperial administration to execute complex iconographical and epigraphic programs that were less easily read on smaller denominations, ensuring that key messages of civic prosperity, piety, and dynastic legitimacy permeated daily civic life.

Production Technology and Mint Attribution

The entire production of standard imperial sestertii for Trajan, including RIC II Trajan 672, was centered at the primary imperial mint of Rome. The manufacturing process of brass coinage required meticulous pyrotechnological control. Orichalcum was prepared through the cementation process, wherein copper was heated together with zinc carbonate (calamine ore) and charcoal in closed crucibles, producing an alloy prized for its warm, brassy golden appearance that contrasted sharply with pure copper. Cast blanks were prepared in circular flan molds, heated to an appropriate striking temperature to soften the dense metal, and struck between hand-carved iron dies. Engravers at the Rome mint operated within organized officinae (workshops), producing remarkably consistent portrait dies characterized by Trajan's firm, idealized facial contours, strong jawline, and neatly layered coiffure. Struck with heavy two-handed hammers, the sestertius flans often exhibit subtle flow lines, bevelled edges from flan casting, and minor axial misalignment, with die axes typically aligned at either roughly 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock according to regular mint conventions of the early second century AD.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 672 presents a right-facing, draped bust of the emperor wearing the corona triumphalis (laurel wreath), with the ribbon ties trailing over the nape of the neck. Mint engravers rendered Trajan in his mature, dignified imperial style, characterized by a smooth, low-sloping forehead, prominent aquiline nose, firmly compressed lips, and hair combed straight forward onto the brow in the distinctively sober civic fashion popular during his principate. The drapery visible over the shoulders introduces a touch of heroic military dress while maintaining decorum suitable for senatorial interaction. This iconography deliberately departed from the flamboyant Hellenistic-style portraiture of the Julio-Claudian era or the unvarnished verism of the early Flavians, projecting instead an image of the ideal civic magistrate and resolute commander who combined military competence with constitutional deference.

Reverse Iconography of Felicitas

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 672 features the standing figure of Felicitas, the personification of blessed fortune, success, and domestic abundance. Draped in a long stola that cascades to her feet, Felicitas turns her head leftward. In her extended right hand, she holds upright a winged caduceus (herald's staff), the ancient attribute of Mercury symbolizing peace, orderly trade, and civil harmony. Cradled in her left arm is an overflowing cornucopiae (horn of plenty), bursting with fruits and agricultural produce that represent the material bounty guaranteed by a benign and victorious princeps. Flanking the lower fields of the composition are the large letters S and C (Senatus Consulto), formally acknowledging that the base-metal issue was struck by senatorial decree. The composition presents an emblematic visual balance, linking administrative tranquillity, agricultural wealth, and divine blessing directly to Trajan's leadership, reassuring citizens that his outward military efforts produced inward security and prosperity.

Epigraphic Structure and Titulature

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 672 are essential for establishing the political and chronological framework of the type. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, expanding to Imperatori Caesari Nervae Traiano Optimo Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Sextum, Patri Patriae. Notably, the phrasing places the emperor's names and primary titles in the dative case (Traiano Optimo), reflecting the dedicatory formula adopted by the Senate when bestowing the singular title Optimus ('the Best Princeps') in autumn AD 114. The legend also preserves his earlier military cognomina ex virtute for victories in Germania (Germanicus) and Dacia (Dacicus), while his sixth consulate (COS VI), entered in AD 112, supplies a clear terminus post quem. The reverse legend, SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS ('The Senate and the Roman People'), complements the obverse dative construction, effectively creating a continuous syntactic sentence affirming that the Senate and Roman People dedicated this honoring currency to their supreme benefactor. Together with the explicit S C in the reverse field, the legend emphasizes harmony between the emperor and the ancient constitutional bodies of the state.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), this reverse design is catalogued as number 672 within Trajan's reign. In Bernhard Woytek's comprehensive monograph Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14), the issue is categorized under type group 535. The introduction of the title OPTIMO in the obverse legend firmly anchors the beginning of this type's production to late AD 114, after the Senate formally granted the designation in August or September of that year. The absence of the title PARTHICVS, which Trajan received in late AD 115 or early 116 following the capture of Ctesiphon, originally led some scholars to narrow the type's production window strictly to late 114 and 115. However, because bronze coinage production frequently lagged behind gold and silver issues, and because certain reverse varieties with SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS continued to be struck concurrently with later military developments, the overarching RIC classification encompasses the wider date bracket of AD 114 to 117. Variant specimens within the broader issue may exhibit subtle differences in the bust treatment, such as the presence of slight aegis drapery or variations in the truncation of the neck, but all share the primary iconographic scheme of Felicitas with caduceus and cornucopiae.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Sestertii of the Optimus period circulated heavily across Italy and the western provinces of the empire, including Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and the German frontier zones. Archaeological evidence from excavation contexts and major bronze hoards shows that early second-century sestertii remained active in commercial circulation for decades, frequently surviving in market transactions well into the Severan era. Because of their significant zinc content, orichalcum sestertii gradually developed distinctive green, brown, or olive patinas through contact with various soil chemistries after deposition. Many surviving specimens of RIC II Trajan 672 display moderate to heavy surface wear on the high relief points of Trajan's wreath and Felicitas's drapery, reflecting decades of hand-to-hand exchange. Their widespread recovery in both urban civilian settlements and auxiliary military camps demonstrates that base-metal issues were integral to sustaining everyday economic life, petty retail trade, and the regional redistribution of money across the Roman world.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 218-222
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. pp. 289-291, no. 672
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 672. ric.2.tr.672
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). no. 535