Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 190A

Monetary Context

The emission of RIC II Trajan 190A occurred against the backdrop of substantial transformations in Roman state finance and imperial propaganda. Following the First Dacian War (101 to 102 AD) and the annexation of Dacia after the Second Dacian War (105 to 106 AD), vast quantities of silver and gold flowed into the Roman treasury from the captured mines and royal reserves of King Decebalus. This unprecedented influx of precious metal alleviated fiscal strains, funded expansive public construction projects in the capital, and underwrote extensive coin issues. Under Trajan, the silver denarius maintained an average weight standard around 3.2 to 3.3 grams and an alloy fineness of approximately ninety percent, before minor adjustments were introduced later in the second century AD. The denarius served as the core silver denomination of the empire, circulating alongside the gold aureus, brass sestertius, and lesser bronze fractions. Struck during Trajan's extended fifth consulship, which commenced in 103 AD, type 190A exemplifies how the imperial administration utilized silver coinage to disseminate the ideological narrative of victorious pacification to soldiers, merchants, and provincial subjects throughout the Mediterranean world.

Production and Mints

The production of RIC II Trajan 190A was executed exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. During the early second century AD, the mint operated under a highly organized administrative structure composed of multiple workshops or officinae, which managed large-scale strikes of gold, silver, and base-metal denominations. Engravers at Rome exhibited high technical precision, rendering detailed portraiture and refined allegorical figures with strong stylistic consistency. Flans were prepared by casting silver blanks into molds, which were subsequently hammered between hand-carved bronze or iron dies. The die axis of this denarius family generally adheres to a standardized six o'clock alignment, typical of Trajanic Rome mint products, though slight variations between five and seven o'clock occur naturally due to manual die placement. The high production volume of the period reflects both the abundance of raw bullion and the state's urgent demand to supply military payrolls across the Danubian and Eastern frontiers.

Obverse Design

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 190A displays a laureate bust of Trajan facing right, distinguished specifically by the addition of the aegis. The imperial portrait presents the mature features characteristic of Trajan's middle reign, including a broad forehead, straight nose, and hair combed forward in neat strands across the brow. While many contemporary denarii portray Trajan either bare-chested or with light drapery on the far shoulder, type 190A is defined by the inclusion of the aegis. Originating as the mythical goat-skin protective mantle of Zeus and Athena, the aegis in Roman imperial iconography signified divine favor, inviolability, and supreme military protection. By incorporating this attribute onto his portraiture, Trajan was visually assimilated to Jupiter Capitolinus and Minerva, reinforcing the notion that his triumph over external foes was divinely ordained and safeguarded.

Reverse Design

The reverse design features the personification of Pax standing draped and facing left, holding an olive branch in her extended right hand and a cornucopiae in her left arm. Pax rests her right foot directly upon the head and shoulders of a prostrate Dacian captive. This dynamic iconography departs from earlier, more tranquil representations of Peace, such as those where Pax holds a caduceus or offers a sacrifice at an altar. Here, the goddess embodies peace born directly of military conquest, an ideological formulation known as pax parta victoriis. The olive branch signifies the cessation of hostilities, while the horn of plenty symbolizes the material prosperity and abundance secured for the empire. By physically subduing the Dacian adversary beneath her foot, Pax illustrates the unconditional subjugation of Dacia, reassuring Roman society that internal serenity and imperial security rested firmly upon the defeat of external enemies.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The legends on RIC II Trajan 190A are rendered in classical Roman epigraphic capitals and express the formal constitutional and military titles granted to the emperor. The obverse legend 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 V, Patri Patriae. This inscription records Trajan's victory titles of Germanicus (conferred under Nerva in 97 AD) and Dacicus (assumed late in 102 AD), alongside his role as supreme pontiff, his tribunician authority, his fifth consulship, and his title as Father of the Country. The reverse legend bears the dedication S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, expanding to Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi (The Senate and the Roman People, to the Best of Princes). First conferred honorifically upon Trajan early in his reign and formally embedded into his numismatic titulature around 103 AD, the title Optimus Princeps underscored harmony between the princeps and the senatorial order, framing Trajan as an ideal, benevolent ruler whose achievements served the public welfare.

Typology and Chronological Nuances

Catalogued primarily as RIC II Trajan 190A, this coin belongs to a broad thematic series minted under the reverse legend SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI. In Bernhard Woytek's modern corpus Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus, these issues are categorized under the extensive fifth-consulship emissions struck between 103 and 111 AD. RIC 190A is typologically distinguished from standard examples of RIC 190 by the presence of the aegis on the obverse bust, whereas RIC 190 typically features drapery or a plain bust. Chronologically, the issue postdates the conclusion of the First Dacian War in late 102 AD, as indicated by the title Dacicus, and predates Trajan's sixth consulship in 112 AD, when the obverse legend shifted to COS VI. Modern numismatic research subdivides this eight-year span based on portrait development and legend breaks, placing the primary striking phases of the Dacian victory types between 103 and 107 AD, closely synchronized with the final victory celebrations and imperial triumphs held in Rome.

Circulation and Monetary Life

Denarii of RIC II Trajan 190A saw extensive circulation across the provinces and military frontiers of the Roman world. Hoard evidence from Roman Britain, the Rhine and Danube limes, Gaul, and the Italian peninsula demonstrates that Trajanic denarii formed the backbone of the circulating silver supply throughout the second century AD. Because Trajan recalled and melted down older, worn Republican and early imperial silver coins following his Dacian triumphs, freshly minted issues of this type filled the resulting monetary vacuum. Denarii of this design remained in active circulation for decades, often exhibiting substantial surface wear in mid-to-late Antonine and Severan hoards. Their broad distribution reflects not only regular army pay and state procurement but also the enduring economic vitality and acceptance of Trajan's silver standard throughout the Mediterranean basin.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian. pp. 257-258, no. 190A
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 190A. ric.2.tr.190A
3. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Traian. pp. 85-92
4. Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117). Moneta Imperii Romani 14, pp. 290-315