Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 139

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

The denarius had long formed the principal silver workhorse of Roman imperial currency by the early second century AD, serving as the benchmark denomination for military stipends, administrative payrolls, and interregional commerce. Following the monetary policies of the Flavian emperors, the silver standard underwent significant production during the reign of Trajan. The emperor inherited a currency system where the denarius was minted at roughly 3.2 to 3.4 grams on a nominal standard of approximately 1/96th of a Roman pound, with a silver fineness hovering between 88 and 93 percent purity. The period between AD 103 and 111 represented a phase of massive fiscal expansion and monetary restructuring in the Roman Empire. Trajan's extensive military engagements across the Danube during the First Dacian War (AD 101 to 102) and Second Dacian War (AD 105 to 106) placed unprecedented demands on the Roman treasury. However, the eventual capture of the Dacian royal treasures of King Decebalus infused an extraordinary quantity of bullion into Rome. This influx enabled an unprecedented volume of fresh coinage, while also financing grandiose public monuments such as Trajan's Forum and Column. Denarii of the fifth consulship, including RIC II Trajan 139, were part of this massive wave of re-coinage, functioning both as high-volume currency for the Roman military and economy, and as widely distributed propaganda broadcasting imperial military achievements throughout the provinces.

Production, Mint Organization, and Metrology

RIC II Trajan 139 was produced exclusively at the imperial mint of Rome, which operated under tight administrative supervision near the center of the capital. Numismatic studies by Bernhard Woytek in 'Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus' have reconstructed the operational structure of the Trajanic mint, which was subdivided into several officinae (workshops). These officinae shared workload across major ceremonial and political issues, utilizing centrally prepared die engravings to maintain stylistic and iconographic consistency across substantial minting runs. The technical production followed standard Roman minting methods of the early second century AD. Flans were cast in globular or flattened moulds, heated to promote ductility, and struck by hand between hardened bronze or iron dies. The obverse die, set into an anvil, bore the portrait of the emperor, while the reverse punch die contained the triumphal quadriga. The weight standard for RIC II Trajan 139 adheres to the typical parameters of Trajan's fifth-consulship denarii: specimens typically exhibit an average weight clustering around 3.15 to 3.35 grams, with typical diameters ranging between 18 and 20 millimeters. Die axes are predominantly aligned at six or twelve o'clock, reflecting the regularized alignment habits of the metropolitan mint during this era.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 139 presents a mature, right-facing portrait of Trajan wearing the laurel wreath (corona triumphalis). The portrait style reflects the sober, realist artistic conventions established during his principate, often described by art historians as a deliberate departure from the idealized or mannered portrait styles of the late Julio-Claudian and Domitianic periods. Trajan is shown with his characteristic straight, combed-forward hair falling over a broad forehead, a firm jawline, a prominent aquiline nose, and compressed lips, conveying an image of civic dignity, military competence, and gravitas. The laurel wreath serves a dual function in this context: it is both a traditional attribute of imperial majesty and an explicit marker of military triumph, directly complementing the victory narrative conveyed by the reverse design. Dies for this type typically feature the bust truncated cleanly at the base of the neck, though slight variations in portrait execution exist across the different hands of mint engravers. These variations manifest primarily in the rendering of the wreath ties, which hang downward or flutter slightly behind the nape, and in the curvature of the jaw and neck muscles.

Reverse Design and Triumphal Iconography

The reverse of RIC II Trajan 139 is dedicated to one of the most venerable motifs in Roman numismatics: the imperial triumph. Trajan is depicted standing upright within an ornate, cylindrical or box-shaped triumphal chariot (tensa or quadriga) drawn to the right by four pacing horses. In his right hand, the emperor extends an olive or laurel branch forward, while his left hand clutches an eagle-tipped sceptre (scipio eburneus), the ancient emblem of consular and triumphal authority. Every element of this composition carries profound ideological weight. The quadriga itself was the central vehicle of the formal pompa triumphalis, in which a victorious imperator processed through the streets of Rome toward the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. The pacing movement of the four horses, rendered with raised forelegs and arched necks, signifies majestic deliberation rather than the chaotic rush of the circus races. The branch held outward balances martial conquest with the restoration of order, asserting that victorious warfare leads directly to imperial peace (pax). Meanwhile, the aquila mounted upon the sceptre underlines the divine sanction of Jupiter and the emperor's supreme command over the legions. Together, these elements frame Trajan not merely as a soldier, but as the triumphant guarantor of Roman security and prosperity.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 139 form a continuous, complementary narrative of imperial legitimacy, offices, and ideological acclaim. The obverse legend reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, an abbreviation for Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate. This formula addresses Trajan in the dative case ('To the Emperor Trajan Augustus...'), reflecting a dedicatory phrasing that continues directly onto the reverse. The title Germanicus honors his pacification of the Rhine frontier under Nerva in AD 97, while Dacicus commemorates his victory in the First Dacian War, formalizing an epithet adopted in late AD 102. The reverse inscription completes the dedicatory sentence with COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, expanding to Consuli Quinto, Patri Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi. Translated alongside the obverse, the full legend reads: 'To the Emperor Trajan Augustus Germanicus Dacicus, Pontifex Maximus, holder of Tribunician Power, Consul for the fifth time, Father of his Country; the Senate and the Roman People [dedicate this] to the Best of Emperors.' The title Optimus Princeps is of supreme significance; originally granted informally by the Senate to acknowledge Trajan's moderation and respect for republican traditions, it became an official, heavily promoted element of Trajanic epigraphy beginning around AD 103.

Typology, Dating, and Chronological Placement

The dating of RIC II Trajan 139 is anchored securely between AD 103 and 111 by the consular notation COS V. Trajan entered his fifth consulship on January 1, AD 103, and did not assume his sixth consulship (COS VI) until January 1, AD 112. Because the reverse legend maintains COS V without specifying the iteration of his annual tribunician power (TR P), modern numismatists rely on internal typological groupings, hoard horizons, and portrait development to refine the chronology. In his comprehensive die and typological study (MIR 14), Bernhard Woytek classified this issue under his Group B/C of Trajan's fifth consulship, placing its primary striking between approximately AD 103 and 107, coinciding closely with the celebration of Trajan's Dacian triumphs. Mattingly in BMCRE 3 similarly linked the quadriga types to the formal triumphal celebrations held in Rome. While the broad catalogue classification of RIC II covers the entire span of the fifth consulship (AD 103 to 111), the heavy concentration of triumphal quadriga reverses in the years immediately surrounding the Dacian campaigns suggests that the primary issue period for RIC II Trajan 139 was concentrated in the earlier half of this range, with possible secondary emissions continuing as part of the prolonged celebration of Roman victory.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Monetary Impact

Denarii of Trajan's fifth consulship circulated extensively throughout the Roman world and remained active in currency pools for over a century. Evidence from British, continental European, and Balkan hoards demonstrates that coins of the COS V OPTIMO PRINC group formed the demographic core of early second-century silver currency. Notable deposits from across the western provinces and the Danubian frontier, such as the massive Reka Devnia hoard in modern Bulgaria, contain hundreds of examples of Trajan's consular denarii, including specimens of RIC II 139. The widespread distribution of this type was further sustained by Trajan's famous demonetization and recall of worn pre-Neronian and republican silver coinage, noted by the historian Cassius Dio. By melting down older, purer silver pieces to mint vast quantities of new denarii, Trajan flooded imperial markets with uniform currency bearing his own ideological messaging. Due to their durable silver composition, specimens of RIC II Trajan 139 continued to pass from hand to hand well into the Severan period, often exhibiting significant wear and test cuts in hoards buried during the turbulent third century AD.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. British Museum Press, London
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 139. ric.2.tr.139
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 254, no. 139
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). Moneta Imperii Romani 14, Vienna, 2010