Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 272

Monetary Context

During the middle and later years of Trajan's reign, the Roman monetary system functioned on a bimetallic and trimetallic balance overseen by the central administration in Rome. The silver denarius served as the principal currency for military salaries, administrative payments, and major commercial transactions across the empire. In the wake of Trajan's successful Dacian campaigns, substantial influxes of bullion reached the capital, stimulating monumental civic building programs and expansive coin emissions. Metallurgical analyses of early second-century silver coinage demonstrate that the imperial denarius maintained a relatively steady weight standard, generally averaging around 3.2 to 3.4 grams with a fineness hovering near eighty-five to ninety percent silver content. Denarii of the sixth consulship, including the issue indexed under RIC II Trajan 272, played a central role in maintaining day-to-day liquidity while functioning as visual media to project imperial legitimacy, political harmony, and social well-being across the Roman world.

Production and Mints

The production of RIC II Trajan 272 was centered entirely at the imperial mint of Rome, which operated multiple organized workshops (officinae) to satisfy the vast currency requirements of the state. Rome utilized skilled celators to engrave high-relief obverse dies depicting the emperor alongside standardized reverse personifications. Blanks were cast in moulds, heated to facilitate ductile striking, and hand-hammered between paired dies. Die alignment for Trajan's silver coinage during this era was consistently maintained in a six o'clock or twelve o'clock orientation. The sheer scale of output during the sixth consulship implies a rapid replacement of working dies, resulting in subtle stylistic nuances across surviving specimens without altering the underlying compositional rules or catalogue attribution.

Obverse Design

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 272 presents a refined portrait bust of Trajan facing right. He is depicted wearing a laurel wreath, tied at the occiput with hanging fillets, and exhibits slight drapery situated over his left shoulder. Trajan's portraiture from the post-Dacian era is characterized by an idealized yet firm realism: clean-shaven, with neatly combed hair brushed forward across the brow, a prominent straight nose, and a set jaw. This mature physiognomy captures the gravitas expected of the princeps, conveying military authority combined with civic sobriety. In accordance with the precise typology of RIC 272, the truncation features drapery gathered solely on the far shoulder, distinguishing it from fully draped, cuirassed, or bare-bust variants that populate contemporary emissions.

Reverse Design

The reverse iconography of RIC II Trajan 272 portrays the female personification of Felicitas standing facing left, dressed in long flowing drapery consisting of a stola and palla. In her raised right hand, she holds an upright caduceus (kerykeion), the classical heraldic wand signifying peace, trade, and divine favor. Resting in her left arm is a brimming cornucopia, representing abundance, fruitful harvests, and public wealth. The posture of Felicitas is graceful and relaxed, often resting her weight upon one leg in a gentle contrapposto. This thematic combination directly tied the security and commercial vitality of the Mediterranean world to the virtues and active governance of the reigning princeps, reassuring citizens and soldiers alike that imperial order yielded tangible material blessings.

Legends and Epigraphy

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 272 utilize crisp, classical capital epigraphy encircling the coin fields. The obverse legend reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, standing in the dative case for Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Sextum, Patri Patriae. By placing the titles in the dative case, the legend dedicates the coin to Trajan as the honoured sovereign. The titles enumerate his victories over the Germans and Dacians, his role as chief priest, his annual grant of tribunician power, his sixth consulship, and his patriarchal duty as father of the fatherland. The reverse legend, S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi), expresses the dedication of the Senate and Roman People to the 'Best of Princes.' This title, officially conferred and celebrated on coinage, served as the ideological core of Trajan's public image.

Types and Chronology

The chronological window for RIC II Trajan 272 is securely anchored by Trajan's assumption of his sixth consulship on January 1, AD 112, and the conclusion of this specific reverse legend series around late AD 114, prior to the adoption of the title Parthicus and the subsequent introduction of the Optimus Augustus obverse nomenclature. Within the extensive 'S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI' series, Bernardo Woytek's specialized corpus (Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus) classifies these issues into distinct chronological phases based on die linkages, bust drapery transitions, and titular modifications. Type 272 is defined by the precise pairing of the laureate bust with slight drapery on the left shoulder and the standing Felicitas holding caduceus and cornucopia. It stands distinct from closely related types bearing identical legends but featuring different bust varieties or alternative personifications such as Pax, Aequitas, or Virtus.

Circulation and Monetary Life

Denarii of the sixth consulship were struck in enormous quantities and dispersed widely throughout the Roman Empire. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, the Danube frontier, and the Levant confirms that these coins entered vigorous circulation alongside earlier Flavian and Nerva-Trajanic issues. Because Trajan carried out a notable demonetization and reminting of worn, pre-Neronian silver around AD 107, issues from AD 112 to 114 formed part of a modern, rejuvenated silver stock. Trajanic denarii maintained circulation well into the late second and early third centuries, frequently appearing in hoards deposited during the Severan and mid-third-century crises. The high production volume and broad geographical recovery of RIC 272 and its companion types underscore the role of the Rome mint in underpinning imperial fiscal stability across all administrative sectors.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. London, 1936
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 272. ric.2.tr.272
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 268, no. 272
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). MIR 14, Vienna, 2010