Trajan Silver Denarius RIC II Trajan 167

Monetary Context

The reign of Trajan marks a pivotal era of administrative expansion, military conquest, and comprehensive reform within the imperial monetary system. Following the annexation of Dacia in AD 106, the Roman state secured vast reserves of silver and gold from the Sarmizegetusa region. This influx of precious metals provided the treasury with the liquidity necessary to execute expansive public works programs, finance civic distributions, and recalibrate the central token and precious-metal coinages. Between AD 103 and 111, the imperial administration gradually withdrew worn pre-Neronian silver denarii from domestic circulation, melting obsolete republican and early Julio-Claudian issues to reissue refreshed coin types under the standard post-Neronian silver weight and fineness. Within this framework, RIC II Trajan 167 represents a core component of everyday imperial silver payments, reflecting both the operational vitality of the Roman treasury and the targeted dissemination of political slogans through regular market transactions.

Production and Mints

The entire emission of RIC II Trajan 167 was produced by the central imperial mint in Rome. During this era, the mint operated under structured administrative divisions, traditionally understood as distinct officinae, which coordinated the preparation of flans, die engraving, and striking. The silver flans for the denarius were cast in individual moulds or prepared by cutting segments from cast silver rods before being rounded and annealed. Under Trajan, denarii typically adhered to a theoretical standard centered near 3.3 to 3.4 grams, with an average silver purity hovering around 85 to 90 percent. Die survival and specimen frequency in museum collections indicate that RIC II Trajan 167 was produced in substantial numbers across multiple die pairs. Minor variations in engraving detail reflect the presence of several active die-cutters working within the established stylistic guidelines of the Rome workshops.

Obverse Characteristics

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 167 features a formal portrait bust of Trajan facing right. In accordance with the standard catalogue definition, the emperor is depicted wearing a laurel wreath, with drapery and cuirass visible at the truncation of the neck and shoulders. Stylistically, the portrait embodies the classical Trajanic portrait style established in the early second century AD, characterized by straight, neatly combed hair falling across the forehead, prominent cheekbones, a firm jawline, and an aquiline nose. This iconographic model departed noticeably from the fleshy realism of the Flavian period, projecting stoic authority, self-discipline, and civic vigilance. The portrait is framed by a continuous peripheral Latin inscription executed in neat, serifed Roman capitals, bounded by an outer bead-and-reel or dotted border.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse design centers on Abundantia, the personification of abundance, divine bounty, and agricultural plenty. She stands draped, facing toward the left. In her lowered right hand, she holds ears of wheat directly over a modius filled with grain stalks placed at her feet to the left. In her left arm, she supports a cornucopiae overflowing with fruits of the earth. Immediately behind her on the right rests the prow of a ship, subtly positioned to indicate the maritime logistics underpinning Rome's grain provisioning. While visually reminiscent of Annona, the personification embodies both agricultural fertility and the successful arrival of overseas grain shipments from Egypt and North Africa via Portus and Ostia. The imagery reassured urban populations and provincial soldiers alike that the princeps had secured the vital food supply through infrastructural competence and administrative foresight.

Inscriptions and Titles

The obverse inscription reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, expanding to Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae. This epigraphic sequence conveys the full spectrum of imperial legitimacy: military imperium, the cognomina ex virtute honoring campaigns along the Rhine and Danube, supreme religious oversight as Pontifex Maximus, civil executive authority through the tribunician power, the fifth tenure of the consulship, and the honorific title Father of the Country. The reverse bears the formulaic legend S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, representing Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi. This phrase reflects the honorary epithet 'Best of Princes' formally conferred by the Senate, emphasizing harmonious governance between the emperor, the aristocratic elite, and the Roman citizenry.

Typology and Chronology

RIC II Trajan 167 is catalogued within the second volume of Roman Imperial Coinage and corresponds to type 273b in Bernhard Woytek's specialized monograph Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus. The issue is chronologically fixed between AD 103, when Trajan assumed his fifth consulship (COS V), and late AD 111, prior to his entry into his sixth consulship (COS VI) on 1 January AD 112. The inclusion of the title DAC confirms a date after the assumption of the Dacicus title late in AD 102. Within Woytek's chronological framework, the issue belongs to the expansive middle phase of Trajan's fifth consulship, coinciding with the consolidation of the Dacian province and major urban works at Rome. While closely related denarius types omit the prow or substitute Annona with slightly divergent attributes, RIC II Trajan 167 specifically isolates the combination of Abundantia, modius, cornucopiae, and prow under the standard Optimo Principi legend.

Circulation and Archaeological Context

Denarii of the RIC II Trajan 167 type experienced widespread circulation across the entire expanse of the Roman Empire. Archaeological excavation and hoard studies demonstrate that coins bearing the OPTIMO PRINCIPI reverse formula entered regional circulation networks in Italy, the Danubian frontier zones, Gaul, Britain, and the eastern Mediterranean. Because the silver denarius was the standard accounting and military pay unit of the high empire, specimens of RIC II Trajan 167 were heavily integrated into trade and payroll dispatches. Many examples survived in military camp contexts along the Rhine and Danube, while others remained in general commercial use for decades, appearing as worn components in mid-to-late Antonine and early Severan hoards prior to the massive debasements of the third century AD.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 57-58, nos. 160-164
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 256, no. 167
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 167. ric.2.tr.167
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (MIR 14). Group 7 / MIR 14, no. 273b