Trajan Silver Denarius RIC II Trajan 189

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

During the reign of Trajan (AD 98 to 117), the Roman imperial monetary system depended upon the silver denarius as its principal medium for military pay, administrative expenditures, and large-scale domestic transactions. The issue designated as RIC II Trajan 189 was struck against the backdrop of Trajan's two Dacian Wars (AD 101 to 102 and AD 105 to 106). These conflicts resulted in the total annexation of the Dacian kingdom north of the Danube and the acquisition of the vast gold and silver mines of the Carpathians, together with the immense royal treasury of King Decebalus. The sudden acquisition of Dacian wealth transformed imperial state finance, allowing Trajan to launch magnificent monumental building programs in Rome, including his Forum, Basilica Ulpia, and Column, while distributing cash donatives (congiaria) to the plebs and funding the military. From a metallurgic perspective, Trajan's administration oversaw adjustments to the silver standard. Under Trajan, the denarius maintained an average weight between 3.20 and 3.40 grams, with a silver purity hovering near 89 to 90 percent, continuing the standards established during the Flavian reform and Nerva's brief tenure. Around AD 107, according to Cassius Dio, Trajan recalled and melted down worn, older Republican and early imperial silver coinages that remained in circulation, taking advantage of their higher silver content to replenish imperial coffers and strike fresh imperial denarii on the prevailing contemporary standard. RIC II Trajan 189 represents this crucial monetary revitalization, serving simultaneously as standard transactional money and as a vehicle for imperial messaging that celebrated the pacification of Dacia.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

The entire regular production of RIC II Trajan 189 is attributed to the central mint in the city of Rome. Although some provincial and auxiliary silver striking occurred in eastern mints such as Antioch or Bostra for regional drachms and cistophori, the imperial denarius was strictly produced under direct imperial oversight at the capital. Studies of die linkages and stylistic organization during this period, particularly Bernhard Woytek's monumental corpus Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14), demonstrate that the Rome mint operated with distinct officinae or workshops. These workshops operated concurrently, sharing obverse master portraits while cutting specialized reverse dies to execute specific thematic campaigns. Denarii of this type were manufactured from cast flans adjusted manually to meet official weight standards. Die axes typically conform to either a 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock orientation, reflecting standard Roman die-alignment practices with hinged or pegged die-holders. Die engraving under Trajan achieved exceptional artistic quality, characterized by vigorous, naturalistic portraiture and balanced, legible legends. The production volume of the Dacian victory series was enormous, running across several consecutive years during Trajan's extended fifth consulship, which accounts for the survival of numerous distinct obverse and reverse die pairings in modern numismatic collections.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 189 presents a right-facing bust of Trajan. The emperor is depicted wearing a laurel wreath, with drapery and a military cuirass visible at the neck and shoulders. Trajan's numismatic portraiture during his fifth consulship marks a departure from the relatively severe, veristic style inherited from the late Flavians and Nerva, shifting instead toward an idealized yet commanding imperial image. The portrait exhibits his characteristic hairstyle with straight locks combed forward across the forehead, a prominent bridge to the nose, a firm chin, and a determined jawline. The inclusion of both the cuirass (lorica) and drapery (paludamentum) emphasizes Trajan's supreme role as imperator and commander of the Roman legions in the field. The laurel wreath directly alludes to triumph, celebrating his repeated military salutations. Engravers at the Rome mint captured a mature, dignified ruler at the height of his administrative and military prowess. Variations in the treatment of the bust drapery, the ties of the laurel wreath, and the truncation of the neck exist across individual dies, but the canonical description established by modern corpora firmly classifies this issue with the draped and cuirassed bust right.

Reverse Allegory: Pax and the Suppliant Dacian

The reverse design of RIC II Trajan 189 is an evocative political allegory celebrating the pacification of Dacia. The central figure is Pax, the Roman personification of peace. She is depicted seated upon an ornate throne facing toward the left. Following classicizing conventions of Greek and Roman art, Pax is shown naked to the waist, with her lower limbs enveloped in flowing drapery. In her extended right hand she holds an olive branch, the universal ancient emblem of peaceful intentions, while resting a transverse sceptre in her left arm, symbolizing divine majesty and imperial order. Directly in front of Pax, on the left side of the composition, a conquered Dacian barbarian kneels in supplication. The figure of the Dacian is depicted in national costume, typically wearing trousers (braccae) and occasionally a soft cap (pileus), bowing low before the personification of Roman peace. This composition explicitly conveys that true peace is not merely an absence of war, but the direct product of Roman military conquest and barbarian submission. Unlike earlier victory types that showed captives bound to trophies in utter humiliation, this tableau portrays an exchange of clemency and submission: the Dacian seeks pardon, and Pax offers the protective mantle of the Roman peace.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The epigraphy of RIC II Trajan 189 is integral to its precise dating and imperial messaging. The obverse legend reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, beginning at the lower left and running clockwise around the portrait. This represents an extensive sequence of imperial titles: Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae. Notably, the legend presents the emperor's name in the dative case (Traiano), meaning 'To the Emperor Trajan'. This reflects a dedicatory phrasing commonly used during this period, mirroring inscriptions set up on stone monuments dedicated to the emperor by the Senate and people. The specific honorific titles trace Trajan's achievements: Germanicus, acquired under Nerva in AD 97; Dacicus, formally assumed late in AD 102 following the conclusion of the First Dacian War; and Pontifex Maximus and Pater Patriae, standard high offices and honours of the principate. The chronological marker COS V confirms that Trajan had entered his fifth consulship, which commenced on January 1, AD 103, and lasted until he assumed his sixth consulship on January 1, AD 112. The reverse legend reads SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi), translated as 'The Senate and the Roman People, to the Best of Princes'. The epithet Optimus Princeps was officially conferred upon Trajan by the Senate in recognition of his civility, moderation, and respect for constitutional traditions. Running in a continuous arc around the seated Pax and kneeling Dacian, this legend unifies the coin's political program, crediting the Senate and people of Rome with dedicating this victory monument to their ideal emperor.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference work The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC), Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham catalogued this denarius as RIC II Trajan 189, assigning it a broad date range of AD 103 to 111 based on the obverse title COS V. While the early RIC scheme grouped all COS V issues together under general headings, subsequent scholarship has refined the sequence. Paul L. Strack, in his seminal 1931 study of Trajanic coinage, demonstrated that the Dacian victory series can be subdivided chronologically based on stylistic shifts, portrait changes, and historical events. Bernhard Woytek's 2010 corpus (MIR 14) placed RIC 189 within his comprehensive typological framework (catalogued broadly under Woytek 285). Woytek established that the dedicatory legend in the dative case (IMP TRAIANO...) accompanied by the reverse SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI was initiated in AD 103 and struck in heavy volume through the climax of the Second Dacian War and its aftermath (AD 105 to 108). Minor bust variations, such as the exact arrangement of the paludamentum or the appearance of an aegis on rare parallel dies, represent contemporaneous artistic choices within the mint officinae rather than separate emissions. The Pax and suppliant Dacian reverse was struck in conjunction with related thematic types featuring Dacia seated in mourning upon shields, Roma receiving Dacian captives, and the figure of Victoria inscribing a shield on a trophy.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of RIC II Trajan 189 circulated widely across the Roman world and remained in active commercial use for generations. Archaeological finds and hoard records indicate that Trajan's fifth-consulship denarii formed a major component of the second-century currency pool. They are frequently recorded in hoards discovered in the Danubian and Rhine frontier provinces, such as modern Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Romania, where legionary units received pay in fresh Rome-minted silver. Furthermore, specimens of this type traveled far beyond the immediate military zones, turning up consistently in domestic savings hoards across Italia, Gallia, Hispania, and Britannia. Because Trajan's post-AD 107 silver coins maintained a stable weight and fineness that was slightly lower than pre-Neronian and Flavian issues, they were less prone to immediate melting or selective hoarding based on Gresham's Law. Consequently, they circulated side by side with the coinages of Hadrian and the Antonine emperors. Many examples recovered from late second- and early third-century hoards, such as those buried during the Marcomannic Wars or under the Severan dynasty, exhibit significant surface wear, attesting to continuous circulation over five to eight decades following their initial striking.

References

1. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 189. ric.2.tr.189
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 257, no. 189
3. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Traian. pp. 112-115
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98–117), Moneta Imperii Romani 14. MIR 14, no. 285