Trajan Gold Aureus RIC II Trajan 18

Monetary Context

The emission designated as RIC II Trajan 18 was produced in the initial months of Trajan's reign following his accession in January AD 98. Following the brief reign of Nerva, the imperial administration sought to project institutional continuity and stability across the Roman Mediterranean. Trajan inherited the reformed Flavian monetary structure, which maintained the aureus at a nominal weight standard near 7.2 to 7.3 grams, or forty-five coins to the Roman pound. Gold coinage of this era served primarily high-level administrative functions, such as military distributions, fiscal transfers between provincial treasuries, and elite commerce. By maintaining the metallic purity and standard introduced under Domitian's later adjustments and preserved by Nerva, this issue reassured financial markets and the military of Trajan's fiscal reliability.

Production and Mints

Production of RIC II Trajan 18 was centralized at the primary imperial mint of Rome. Operating under the oversight of imperial procurators and mint officials (tresviri monetales), the Rome mint struck these gold planchets using hand-cut bronze or iron dies. The execution of early Trajanic aurei demonstrates the refined die-sinking traditions of the Flavian workshop artisans, characterized by high relief, disciplined letterforms, and carefully modeled anatomical details. Die axes for this series are typically oriented upright or slightly inverted (six or twelve o'clock), reflecting standard mint practice of the late first century AD. While Trajan spent the first year of his reign inspecting the northern Rhine and Danube frontiers, minting operations remained centered in the capital to serve central administrative disbursements.

Obverse Design and Iconography

The obverse presents a right-facing portrait of Trajan wearing a laurel wreath. Unlike the idealized and increasingly mature portraits seen on his later coinage following the Dacian Wars, this early portraiture retains elements of the transitional Flavian-Nervan style. Die cutters depicted Trajan with strong facial contours, a firm jawline, and straight hair combed forward onto the brow. The wreath ribbons fall naturally behind the nape of the neck. The portrait emphasizes both youthful vigor and disciplined sobriety, presenting the new emperor as an experienced military commander capable of commanding the legions while respecting senatorial decorum.

Reverse Design and Iconography

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 18 features the personification of Roma seated toward the left on a curule chair or low dais, holding a statuette of Victory in her extended right hand and resting a parazonium in her left arm. This combination of attributes conveys both past triumph and armed readiness. The presence of Roma serves as a direct homage to the traditional capital and its historic institutions, assuring the Senate that Trajan, despite his provincial origin and extended absence on the northern frontiers, remained dedicated to the defense and primacy of Rome. The parazonium, an officer's ceremonial sword, underlines the constitutional and military authority invested in the sovereign.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 18 are integral to establishing its precise chronological boundary. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM (Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus). This phrasing highlights his imperial acclamation (Imperator), lineage by adoption (Nerva), personal name (Traianus), and the honorary victory title Germanicus, which had been conferred jointly upon Nerva and Trajan in late AD 97. The reverse legend reads PONT MAX TR POT COS II (Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul II). The title Pontifex Maximus indicates his assumption of supreme religious authority, while COS II firmly confines the issue to his second consulship, which commenced on January 1, AD 98, and concluded prior to his third consulship in AD 100.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

In the modern classification system of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC II Trajan 18 occupies a distinct place among the first issues struck in the emperor's sole name between AD 98 and 99. In Bernhard Woytek's exhaustive corpus Moneta Imperii Romani (MIR 14), these early aurei are organized under the initial emissions produced before Trajan's triumphal arrival in Rome in AD 99. The type shares identical reverse imagery with concurrent denarius issues, demonstrating that the mint executed coordinated typological programs across both precious metals. RIC II Trajan 18 is strictly differentiated from later aurei bearing similar Roma imagery by the combination of the COS II consular notation and the absence of Trajan's later titles, such as Dacicus (awarded in AD 102) and Optimus (conferred in AD 114).

Circulation and Monetary Role

Aurei of this initial emission circulated widely across the Roman world, though their survival pattern matches that of other early imperial gold coinages. Due to their high intrinsic purity and standard weight, Trajanic aurei were often hoarded during times of political crisis or military campaign. Over the course of the second century, earlier gold pieces remained in circulation alongside subsequent emissions until gradual tariff adjustments and slight reductions in weight under subsequent dynasties prompted their recall and reminting. Hoard evidence from western Europe and the Danubian provinces reveals that early Trajanic aurei frequently circulated alongside late Flavian gold, serving as stable units of high-denomination wealth storage.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. Trajan, nos. 4-6
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 18. ric.2.tr.18
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 246, no. 18
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117), Moneta Imperii Romani 14. MIR 14, no. 17