Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 1

Monetary and Political Context

The accession of Marcus Ulpius Traianus in late January AD 98 marked the first peaceful imperial transition following adoption outside the immediate imperial household since Galba. Trajan, then governing Upper Germany, succeeded the elderly Nerva without armed opposition, bringing substantial military prestige to the Roman principate. The Rome mint immediately assumed the vital task of introducing the new princeps to the empire through precious-metal coinage. The silver denarius served as the standard everyday silver denomination across all civilian markets, administrative payments, and legionary disbursements. At Trajan's accession, the silver denarius maintained the monetary standards established in the later reign of Domitian and preserved by Nerva, functioning at an average weight around 3.25 to 3.35 grams and a silver fineness of approximately 88 to 90 percent pure silver. The prompt production of RIC II Trajan 1 formed an essential component of the early cash flow intended to reassure the Roman citizenry and the provincial legions of continuity, uninterrupted imperial grain provisions, and civic prosperity.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

All specimens of RIC II Trajan 1 were manufactured at the central imperial mint in Rome. During the late first century AD, the Rome mint was staffed by organized squads of celatores (die-engravers), flaturarii (blank-casters), and signatores (strikers) organized into officinae. Flans were produced by casting molten silver into predetermined circular molds or cutting measured segments from cast silver rods, which were subsequently reheated to improve ductility during striking. The dies were hand-cut using hardened iron punches and gravers, resulting in subtle stylistic variations across individual dies while maintaining strict adherence to official iconographic models. The standard target weight of the denarius during this initial issue hovered around 3.30 grams, corresponding to an al marco ratio of approximately 96 denarii per Roman pound (libra). The die axis for Trajan's early denarii was generally regular, predominantly adhering to a six o'clock (downward) or twelve o'clock (upward) alignment, reflecting disciplined quality control by the mint magistrates.

Obverse Portraiture and Ideology

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 1 displays the laureate head of Trajan facing right. Die engravers initially adapted the somewhat austere portrait traditions of Nerva's brief reign to establish Trajan's physiognomy, as the new emperor remained along the Rhine frontier and did not immediately enter Rome until AD 99. The portrait exhibits sharp, well-defined features, including a straight bridge of the nose, a firm chin, and flatly combed hair falling forward onto the forehead in the military fashion. Trajan wears the laurel wreath (corona triumphalis), tied at the back of the head with two fillets draping down the neck. The portraiture consciously avoids excessive Flavian embellishment, instead presenting a severe, stoic, and resolute military leader capable of safeguarding the frontiers while respecting traditional senatorial dignity. The die work demonstrates the gradual transition from the slightly aged, idealized Nervan models to the realistic likeness that characterized Trajan's first official portrait period.

Reverse Iconography of Abundantia

The reverse design presents an allegorical female personification, generally catalogued as Abundantia or occasionally interpreted in related numismatic literature as Securitas or Iustitia. She is depicted seated facing left upon an ornate chair formed by two crossed cornucopiae, with the horn-shaped tips serving as the armrests or support struts. Dressed in a flowing stola and palla, she holds a long vertical sceptre (hasta pura) in her right hand, while resting her left arm comfortably against the back of the seat. The cornucopiae, spilling over with fruits and grain, directly symbolize material abundance, agricultural fertility, and the reliable distribution of the grain supply (annona) to the populace of the capital. The sceptre signifies majestic authority and divine protection. By placing the personification upon a seat constructed from the instruments of abundance, the design explicitly attributes public well-being and freedom from civil anxiety to the new princeps and his administrative vigilance.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The inscriptions on RIC II Trajan 1 record Trajan's initial imperial nomenclature and constitutional prerogatives. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM, an abbreviation for Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus. This legend prominently displays Trajan's adoption by Nerva through the incorporation of Nerva's name, while the agnomen Germanicus honors his military achievements on the Rhine frontier, an honorific awarded by the Senate late in AD 97. The reverse legend reads P M TR P COS II P P, standing for Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Iterum, Pater Patriae. The reference to COS II (consul for the second time) securely pins the issue to AD 98-99, as Trajan assumed his second consulship on January 1, AD 98, alongside Nerva, and did not assume his third consulship (COS III) until January 1, AD 100. The presence of P P (Pater Patriae) reflects the early acceptance of the father-of-the-fatherland title, a conventional designation embraced to reaffirm Trajan's protective role toward the Roman commonwealth.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference corpus of Mattingly and Sydenham (RIC II), this coin is catalogued as Trajan 1, placing it at the very beginning of the reign. Bernhard Woytek's modern corpus, Die Reichspragung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14), classifies this issue under the first monetary group struck in AD 98 (MIR 14, type 18a/b). The type is closely linked to companion denarii featuring identical reverse legends but depicting Pax holding an olive branch, Vesta holding the palladium, or Victoria holding a wreath. The production of RIC II Trajan 1 commenced shortly after Nerva's deification in early AD 98 and concluded before the conclusion of AD 99, when the mint transitioned to preparing reverse dies marking Trajan's third consulship (COS III) for the year AD 100. Minor die engraving variations occur, particularly in the detailed rendering of the drapery folds, the precise angle of the sceptre, and the fullness of the cornucopiae, but the fundamental iconography remains strictly consistent throughout its short production window.

Circulation, Hoards, and Survival

Denarii of RIC II Trajan 1 circulated broadly across Italy and the European and Near Eastern provinces of the empire. As high-value silver coinage, they were frequently hoarded during periods of economic or political instability. Specimens have been recovered in major imperial hoard deposits from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine limes, the Danubian frontier, and Roman Syria. However, coins of this early group are noticeably less common in late second-century hoards than Trajan's later Dacian issues (dating from AD 103 to 114). Around AD 107, Trajan carried out a widespread demonetization and remelting program, recorded by the historian Cassius Dio, which removed older, more worn Republican and early imperial silver from circulation to supply bullion for new, slightly lower-fineness issues. While this remelting primarily targeted pre-Neronian and worn Flavian coinages, the modest volume of Trajan's initial AD 98-99 output compared to the colossal mintages following the annexation of Dacia ensured that RIC II Trajan 1 remained a relatively compact issue in the overall archaeological record.

References

1. Money and Government in the Roman Empire. pp. 192-205
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 1. ric.2.tr.1
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 245, no. 1
4. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117), Moneta Imperii Romani 14. MIR 14, no. 18