Trajan Gold Aureus, RIC II Trajan 248

Monetary Context and Imperial Building Programs

During the reign of Trajan (AD 98 to 117), the Roman monetary system maintained the bimetallic and trimetallic structure consolidated under the Flavians, anchored at its apex by the gold aureus and the silver denarius. Trajan undertook significant monetary adjustments early in the second century AD, specifically around AD 107, when he demonetized older, worn pre-Neronian denarii and adjusted coin production to reflect consistent metrological targets. The massive influx of bullion secured from the conquest of Dacia in AD 106, documented by contemporary and later ancient authors as tens of thousands of pounds of gold and silver, injected unprecedented liquidity into the Roman imperial treasury. Rather than causing catastrophic inflation, this vast wealth was systematically absorbed through major civic distributions, military expenditures, and an extraordinary public building program in Rome. The gold aureus represented the premier store of value and prestige denomination of the empire, circulating primarily among administrative elites, high-ranking military commanders, and wealthy commercial interests. The minting of gold under Trajan was closely tied to ideological display, public benefaction, and the commemoration of state triumphs. Struck at 45 to the Roman pound (libra), yielding a nominal standard of roughly 7.28 grams of pure gold, the aureus commanded a fixed tariff of 25 silver denarii or 100 bronze sestertii. Architectural types were rarely chosen purely at random; when the mint of Rome issued gold coins featuring major architectural monuments such as the Forum Traiani, the Aqua Traiana, and the Basilica Ulpia, it directly announced to the Roman elite and provincial authorities that state spoils had been converted into enduring public infrastructure that glorified the princeps and enhanced civic life.

Production Standards and Mint Operation

The entire production of RIC II Trajan 248 took place at the primary imperial mint in Rome. During the middle to late periods of Trajan's reign, the capital mint functioned with multiple operational officinae capable of producing gold, silver, and aes issues simultaneously. Gold striking required strict administrative oversight to safeguard metal purity and prevent weight fluctuations that could disrupt official exchange rates. High-grade gold blanks were cast in individual molds, heated to achieve optimal malleability, and struck by heavy iron dies cut by master engravers capable of rendering extraordinary architectural details in miniature relief. Metrologically, the aurei assigned to RIC II Trajan 248 adhere to the reduced standard established by Nero in AD 64, which remained regularized through the early second century AD. Struck specimens typically cluster in weight between 7.15 and 7.35 grams, with an average diameter ranging between 19 and 20 millimeters. Die alignment for Trajanic gold struck at Rome is predominantly oriented near twelve o'clock, reflecting the careful manual positioning of the dies within the workshop. Die studies by modern scholars, including Bernhard Woytek in his comprehensive corpus MIR 14, reveal that while the reverse type was also struck in silver for denarii, the aureus dies were prepared with exceptional care and finer depth of field, reflecting the superior prestige of the gold medium.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Titulature

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 248 displays the mature portrait of Trajan facing right. The imperial bust is typically depicted with a laurel wreath, tied at the occiput with hanging ribbons that fall along the nape of the neck. Depending on the individual die engraving, the bust is rendered either as bare-shouldered with a simple bust termination or with slight drapery over the far shoulder, occasionally showing the paludamentum or cuirass. The stylistic treatment reflects the classicizing realism characteristic of Trajan's 'decennalia' and post-Dacian portrait styles, marked by low forehead fringe, deeply set eyes, a prominent aquiline nose, and a firm, set jaw that projected sobriety, discipline, and gravitas. The obverse die is encircled by a continuous imperial titulature: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P. This extended legend records the culmination of Trajan's constitutional and honorific powers up to AD 112. The title Imperator (IMP) serves as a praenomen, followed by the dative form of his name and core titles Traiano Augusto (TRAIANO AVG). His military victory cognomina Germanicus (GER) and Dacicus (DAC) commemorate his pacification of the Rhine frontier in AD 97 to 98 and his annexation of Dacia in AD 101 to 106. His continuous religious and civil offices are expressed by Pontifex Maximus (P M), Tribunicia Potestate (TR P), Consul for the sixth time (COS VI), and Pater Patriae (P P).

Reverse Design: The Architecture of the Basilica Ulpia

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 248 presents a detailed architectural facade of the Basilica Ulpia, providing one of the most vital numismatic representations of ancient civic architecture in Rome. The design portrays the monumental exterior of the basilica building, traditionally identified by architectural historians as either the primary lateral facade facing the open court of the Forum of Trajan or the monumental entry porch leading into the nave. The coin shows a multi-columned, two-story building resting on a stepped podium or stylobate. The central section of the lower order is dominated by a tetrastyle or hexastyle colonnade flanked by projecting bays. Above the central entablature rises an elaborate triumphal attic pavilion surmounted by a frontal sculpture group. This group features a triumphal four-horse chariot (quadriga) escorted by figures of Victory, flanked to the left and right by elevated pedestals carrying military trophies and Roman soldiers or subsidiary bigae. Along the flanking wings of the lower colonnade, the architrave is crowned by standing statues positioned directly above the columns, mirroring the famous Dacian prisoner sculptures attested archaeologically throughout the forum complex. Below the baseline or within the exergue, the building is explicitly identified by the inscription BASILICA VLPIA.

Epigraphic Analysis and Titular Significance

The epigraphy of RIC II Trajan 248 reflects the high epigraphic standards of the imperial Rome mint during the height of the adoptive emperors. Legends were cut with sharp, well-proportioned Roman square capitals (capitalis quadrata) with pronounced terminal serifs. The obverse inscription, IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, uses the dative case for the recipient (Imp[eratori] Traiano Aug[usto]), a grammatical convention frequently utilized during Trajan's reign to emphasize dedicatory honor, framing the coin issues as public tributes offered by the Senate and the Roman people to their princeps. The reverse inscription is concise yet profoundly historic: BASILICA VLPIA. Expressed in the nominative case, it directly names the monument after Trajan's gentilicium (the gens Ulpia). While Roman coins regularly celebrated temples dedicated to gods or divinized rulers, the depiction and explicit naming of a secular, administrative basilica on imperial gold was relatively rare. It highlighted the complex not merely as an emperor's vanity monument, but as an operational hall for legal administration, civil trials, and public assemblies. The clarity and precision of the reverse legend left no ambiguity regarding the identification of the building, transforming the coin into an enduring numismatic celebration of Trajan's architectural patronage.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard classification of Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham (RIC II, 1926), this gold issue is catalogued under number 248. In Bernhard Woytek's specialized monograph Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14), it is classified within the coin issues of Trajan's sixth consulship under type MIR 388f. The critical chronological anchor for the issue is the title COS VI. Trajan entered his sixth and final consulship on January 1, AD 112, and did not assume another consulship before his death in AD 114 or 117. Consequently, the type cannot date prior to January AD 112. The upper date boundary of AD 114 is determined by the absence of subsequent titles that Trajan accepted later in his reign. In autumn AD 114, Trajan was awarded the prestigious title Optimus as a formal cognomen, which immediately appeared in the obverse titulature of all subsequent mintages at Rome (OPTIMO AVG). Furthermore, in late AD 114 to early 116, he received the title Parthicus for his eastern campaigns. The presence of COS VI combined with the absence of OPTIMO indicates that RIC II Trajan 248 was struck during the narrow window between AD 112 and mid-114. This chronological bracket aligns precisely with the historical dedication of the Forum of Trajan on January 1, AD 112, and the dedicated consecration of the Column of Trajan in May AD 113, confirming that the issue was struck directly to mark the opening of the civic complex.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Archaeological Value

Aurei of Trajan enjoyed widespread circulation across the Roman Empire, although their high intrinsic value confined their daily movement to banking, state payments, long-distance trade, and bullion reserves. Unlike bronze coinage, which circulated locally, gold traversed the empire freely from the western provinces of Britannia and Hispania to the eastern frontier along the Euphrates. Hoards deposited in the mid-to-late second century AD throughout Italy, Gaul, and the Danube frontier frequently include Trajanic aurei, which continued to circulate alongside issues of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius due to their trusted fineness and weight. Because gold was periodically melted down by subsequent administrations or recovered and re-coined during the third-century inflationary crises, surviving specimens of RIC II Trajan 248 are relatively limited in number. Consequently, the surviving examples possess immense archaeological and architectural value. Because post-antique quarrying and urban rebuilding stripped the physical Basilica Ulpia down to its foundations and fragments of marble columns, the architectural details preserved on these dies provide indispensable evidence for classical archaeologists. They corroborate archaeological ground plans, indicating the location of the attic statues, the configuration of the grand entrance portico, and the celebratory statuary program designed by Trajan's master architect, Apollodorus of Damascus.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 82-84, nos. 370-372
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 248. ric.2.tr.248
3. The Forum of Trajan in Rome: A Study of the Monuments in Brief. pp. 115-128
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 261, no. 248
5. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). MIR 14, no. 388f