Trajan Aureus, RIC II Trajan 347 (aureus)

Monetary Context and Economic Function

During the principate of Trajan, the gold aureus maintained its longstanding role as the anchor of the Roman imperial monetary hierarchy. Valued at twenty-five silver denarii or one hundred brass sestertii, the aureus provided an indispensable mechanism for imperial fiscal transfer. Large-scale military operations, veteran gratuities, monumental construction programs in Rome, and broad subventions across the provinces relied heavily on compact gold currency. By the second decade of the second century AD, imperial gold struck at Rome possessed exceptionally high purity, typically exceeding ninety-nine percent fine metal. While Trajan instituted adjustments to the silver denarius in approximately AD 107 to expand available bullion supplies following the Dacian campaigns, the gold standard remained stable at approximately forty-five coins per Roman pound, yielding an average weight range between 7.2 and 7.3 grams. An issue such as RIC II Trajan 347 did not function primarily in everyday marketplace transactions; rather, it served state payments, private hoarding by affluent civic elites, and major mercantile transfers across the empire.

Production and Mint Organization

Production of RIC II Trajan 347 occurred at the principal imperial mint situated in Rome. Operating under the administrative oversight of the imperial equestrian bureaucracy, the Rome mint executed regular strikings across multiple officinae to meet heightened state expenditures associated with the Eastern expeditions between AD 114 and 117. Blanks for aurei were cast with precision to ensure adherence to standard weight tolerances, after which heated flans were struck between engraved iron or bronze dies. The artistic style of the Rome mint during this terminal phase of Trajan's reign shows high technical refinement. Engravers rendered the emperor's features with crisp realism and distinct anatomical modeling, while the reverse figure of the Genius illustrates the classical Greco-Roman athletic archetype. Die axes for this series are typically aligned at six o'clock or twelve o'clock, reflecting the disciplined workshop habits characteristic of the capital's mint personnel.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Image

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 347 presents a right-facing portrait bust of Trajan. The emperor is depicted wearing a laurel wreath, tied at the occiput with hanging ribbons, and arranged with formal folds of drapery around the base of the neck and shoulders. Stylistically, the portrait captures Trajan in mature adulthood, characterized by straight-cropped hair, a prominent aquiline nose, firm jawline, and furrowed brow. This portrait style moves away from the earlier veristic austerity of the late first century toward an idealized, heroic imperial presence. The placement of drapery over the bust adds solemnity and prestige, underscoring Trajan's supreme civic and military standing as commander-in-chief and first citizen of Rome.

Reverse Iconography: The Imperial Genius

The reverse iconography depicts the Genius, standing facing left in heroic nudity. In his extended right hand, the figure holds a patera, a shallow libation dish used in official Roman sacrifices, while his lowered left hand holds two or more ripe ears of corn pointing downwards. The Genius represents the spiritual essence, protective guardian, and generative vitality of a person, community, or the Roman people as a whole. On imperial coinage, the figure can be interpreted simultaneously as the Genius of the Emperor and the Genius Senatus Populoque Romani. The sacrificial patera emphasizes pious devotion to traditional religious obligations, while the downward-pointing corn-ears evoke fertility, agricultural prosperity, and the dependable provision of the grain supply. In the context of Trajan's extensive military campaigns in the East, this balance between ritual piety and abundant civic peace provided an essential counterpoint to wartime propaganda.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse inscription reads IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC, rendered in the dative case. This grammatical construction, common on Trajan's coinage from late AD 114 onward, presents the coinage as an honorary dedication to the emperor by the Senate and Roman People: 'To Imperator Caesar Nerva Trajan, the Best Augustus, conqueror of the Germans, conqueror of the Dacians.' The introduction of the title OPTIMUS serves as a vital dating criterion, as it was formally decreed by the Senate in autumn AD 114. The reverse legend continues the imperial titulature with P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R, an abbreviation of Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul sextum, Pater Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus. This inscription records his religious primacy, continuing tribunician authority, sixth consulship entered on January 1, AD 112, and the honorific title Father of the Country, explicitly grounded in the mutual consensus of the governing assembly and civic body.

Typology and Chronological Placement

In the standard classification systems of Roman imperial numismatics, RIC II Trajan 347 occupies a clearly defined position within the fifth group of Trajan's coinage, catalogued by Bernhard Woytek under MIR 14 as issue 516f. The coin must postdate the formal grant of the title Optimus in August or September of AD 114, yet it precedes the introduction of the victory title Parthicus, which began appearing in official coin legends in late AD 115 or early 116 following Trajan's successful operations in Mesopotamia. Consequently, the core striking window for this specific type spans late AD 114 through AD 115, though cataloguing frameworks such as Roman Imperial Coinage group the wider series within the final phase extending down to Trajan's death in August AD 117. Minor die variations exist in the fullness of drapery across the truncation of the bust and the rendering of the corn-ears, but the composition remains unified across known specimens.

Hoard Evidence and Monetary Circulation

Because aurei possessed substantial intrinsic value, their circulation mechanics differed markedly from silver and base-metal coins. Gold issues moved predominantly through institutional channels, such as state treasuries, military payrolls, and long-distance trade networks, rather than rapid daily exchange. Archaeological recovery of Trajanic aurei occurs across the European, North African, and Near Eastern territories of the empire, as well as beyond the imperial frontiers where Roman gold functioned as high-status bullion. Finds from coin hoards throughout Britain, Gaul, Italy, and the Danubian provinces demonstrate that Trajan's aurei enjoyed extended circulation lives, frequently remaining in private hoards alongside coins of the Antonine emperors well into the late second and early third centuries AD. Specimen wear on surviving coins varies from sharp, uncirculated pieces stored immediately after issue to smoothed examples that endured decades of careful custody.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 102-105
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 347 (aureus). ric.2.tr.347_aureus
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 268, no. 347
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Traian. pp. 140-145
5. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). Moneta Imperii Romani 14, issue 516f