Trajan Silver Denarius RIC II Trajan 121

Monetary Context and Economic Background

The denarius catalogued as RIC II Trajan 121 was issued within the high-water mark of Roman imperial silver coinage during the early second century AD. Struck under the authority of Trajan, this coinage corresponds to a transformative epoch in Roman fiscal history. Following the conclusion of the First Dacian War in AD 102 and the decisive conquest of the Dacian kingdom by AD 106, imperial coffers were enriched by enormous quantities of precious metal, including the celebrated gold and silver treasures of Decebalus. This massive influx of silver bullion relieved treasury deficits, funded extensive public works projects, and financed massive military campaigns along the Danubian frontier. Trajan initiated a significant recoinage program during his fifth consulship, recalling and melting older, worn pre-Neronian and early Flavian denarii that retained higher silver purities than the post-reform standard. The silver denarius functioned as the foundational unit for state accounting, military payrolls, urban commerce, and interprovincial taxation across the Mediterranean basin. Denarii of this period were struck to a theoretical standard of approximately 96 coins to the Roman pound (libra), yielding an intended weight of roughly 3.41 grams with a fineness averaging between 89 and 93 percent silver. RIC II Trajan 121 represents a core element of this revitalized imperial currency system, combining fiscal utility with targeted dynastic and civic messaging.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

All specimens of RIC II Trajan 121 were struck at the primary imperial mint in Rome, which operated under strict bureaucratic oversight directed by the equestrian procurator monetae. The mint was organized into specialized workshops, or officinae, each staffed by skilled teams of die-engravers (scalptores), flan preparers (aequatores), and striking laborers (signatores). Engravers cut the coin designs in intaglio directly onto tempered iron or bronze-capped dies. Because the production of Trajan's fifth consulship series required millions of individual silver blanks, modern die studies, such as the comprehensive corpus by Bernhard Woytek, demonstrate the operation of multiple concurrent production lines sharing standardized typographic models. The flans were cast in spherical molds or cut from cast silver rods, then heated and struck manually between an embedded lower anvil die (the obverse portrait) and a handheld upper punch die (the reverse design). This manufacturing method produced slight variations in flan thickness, axis orientation, and rim alignment across the surviving population. Typical specimens exhibit weights ranging from approximately 3.10 to 3.45 grams and diameters between 18 and 20 millimeters. Die axes predominantly follow a regular upright or inverted alignment, typically centering around six or twelve o'clock, reflecting the disciplined mechanical habits of the Rome mint staff during the Middle Principate.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 121 presents an expressive, mature portrait of Trajan facing right, crowned with a laurel wreath whose ties hang neatly behind his neck. Roman portraiture under Trajan made a deliberate aesthetic break from the delicate Hellenistic classicism of the Julio-Claudians and the hyper-realistic verism of the Flavians. Instead, Trajan's coin images emphasize grave dignity (gravitas), unyielding military discipline, and civic accessibility (civilitas). The emperor is rendered with his characteristic straight-combed hair falling evenly over a low forehead, a prominent bridge to the nose, firm lips, and a muscular neck. The laurel wreath symbolizes victorious military triumph, celebrating his conquests along the northern borders. In terms of stylistic execution, the dies display subtle variations recognized in specialized corpora: while the standard type features a bare neck terminating in a clean truncation, certain dies incorporate delicate folds of drapery visible over the left or far shoulder. These minor bust treatments reflect the expressive liberty of individual die-engravers working within the Rome mint rather than distinct administrative denominations or official revaluations.

Reverse Iconography of Felicitas

The reverse design displays Felicitas, the Roman personification of blessed prosperity, fruitful enterprise, and enduring good fortune, standing facing left. She is clothed in long, flowing drapery (stola and palla) that falls to her feet in elegant folds. In her outstretched right hand, she holds an upright caduceus, the traditional herald's staff entwined by two serpents, symbolizing peaceful commerce, harmony, and diplomatic accord. Resting in her left arm is an overflowing cornucopiae, the horn of plenty bursting with agricultural produce, symbol of divine abundance and material wealth. Within imperial ideology, the combination of Felicitas, the caduceus, and the cornucopiae communicated that under Trajan's rule, Rome enjoyed the fruits of victorious peace. Military expansion in Dacia was portrayed not merely as conquest, but as the prerequisite for widespread civic stability and imperial happiness (Felicitas Augusti or Felicitas Publica). By placing Felicitas alongside the honorific title Optimo Principi, the coin assured Roman citizens that the emperor's stewardship translated directly into shared prosperity and well-ordered civic life.

Epigraphy and Imperial Titulature

The legends on RIC II Trajan 121 are executed in clean, classic imperial epigraphy, encircling both sides within a beaded border. The obverse inscription reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, which expands to Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate. This formula addresses Trajan in the dative case, framing the coinage as an honoring dedication: 'To the Emperor Trajan Augustus, conqueror of the Germans, conqueror of the Dacians, Supreme Pontiff, invested with Tribunician Power.' The presence of DAC (Dacicus), adopted late in AD 102, provides a firm terminus post quem for the series. The reverse inscription continues this unified grammatical sentence: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, expanding to Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae, Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi. Translated alongside the obverse, the complete legend reads: 'The Senate and the Roman People [dedicate this] to the Best of Princes, Consul for the fifth time, Father of his Country.' The title Optimus Princeps had been bestowed upon Trajan by the Senate around AD 100 to praise his moderation and constitutional respect; on the coinage of his fifth consulship, it became the central motto defining his public persona.

Chronological Placement and Typological Variants

The chronological assignment of RIC II Trajan 121 relies on the consular designation COS V, which Trajan assumed on January 1, AD 103, and held until entering his sixth consulship (COS VI) on January 1, AD 112. In the original 1926 classification of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume II by Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham, the type was broadly dated across this entire consular window of AD 103 to 111. Modern research by Bernhard Woytek in Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus has refined the internal chronology of this period significantly. By analyzing stylistic transitions in portraiture, subtle modifications in legend breaks, and hoard compositions, Woytek assigns this specific Felicitas type to his comprehensive Group 8, struck principally between AD 103 and 107, coinciding with the interwar period and the Second Dacian War. Typological variations are confined to minor die differences, most notably whether the bust is entirely undraped or shows drapery on the far left shoulder. Although related contemporary denarii depict Felicitas holding an altar or seated on a throne, RIC II Trajan 121 is defined strictly by the standing posture with caduceus and cornucopiae combined with the COS V reverse legend.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

RIC II Trajan 121 was struck in massive quantities and circulated extensively throughout the Roman world. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, Italy, and the Danubian provinces indicates that denarii of Trajan's fifth consulship quickly became the dominant silver coins in everyday commercial transactions. Significant hoards, such as the Reka Devnya hoard discovered in Bulgaria, contained thousands of Trajanic denarii, with hundreds of examples belonging to the COS V Felicitas types. The hard-wearing alloy and balanced striking of these coins ensured exceptional longevity. They circulated alongside earlier Flavian issues and subsequent Hadrianic and Antonine strikings for decades, remaining active in currency pools through the late second century AD. Because of the sheer scale of original production and widespread geographic dispersal, surviving specimens remain common today. They are found across a full spectrum of preservation, ranging from heavily worn, clipped coins recovered from frontier military camps to remarkably sharp, uncirculated examples preserved in sealed domestic hoards.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 450-485
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 67-68, nos. 250-255
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 255, no. 121
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 121. ric.2.tr.121
5. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). MIR 14, nos. 190-192