Trajan Silver Denarius, RIC II Trajan 191

Monetary Context and Trajanic Currency Policy

The issue of the silver denarius catalogued as RIC II Trajan 191 belongs to a transformational period in Roman imperial monetary history. During the early second century AD, the Roman monetary system was anchored by the bimetallic and trimetallic relationship between gold aurei, silver denarii, and base-metal brass and copper denominations such as sestertii, dupondii, and asses. The denarius served as the central workhorse of the imperial economy, functioning as the chief medium for state expenditures, especially legions' pay, public building programs, and official distributions. Following the Dacian Wars, concluded successfully in AD 102 and 106 respectively, Trajan secured an immense influx of bullion from the captured royal treasuries of Decebalus. This unprecedented acquisition of gold and silver allowed the imperial administration to finance ambitious urban works in Rome and launch a comprehensive restructuring of the circulating coinage. As recorded by ancient sources and modern metallurgical studies, Trajan carried out a widespread recall and melting down of older, heavier pre-Neronian and early Flavian silver coins that had remained in circulation due to their superior fineness. The bullion recovered from these recalled pieces, combined with Dacian booty, fueled vast emissions of denarii struck to a slightly reduced fineness of around eighty-nine to ninety-three percent silver. The denarius of RIC II Trajan 191 was struck directly in this economic context, supplying the empire with uniform, modern currency calibrated to sustain buoyant public spending without causing immediate monetary dislocation.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

The entire emission of RIC II Trajan 191 was produced by the imperial mint at Rome, the dominant facility for struck precious-metal coinage during the High Empire. Although some provincial mints operated in the East to strike local silver cistophori or provincial drachms, Rome retained a virtual monopoly over the strike of standard imperial denarii. Production operated under the oversight of imperial procurators and mint personnel organized into distinct officinae or workshops. Striking denarii was an exacting manual operation: silver blanks were cast, heated to working plasticity, and struck between hand-carved intaglio bronze or iron dies. The theoretical weight standard for the denarius at this date hovered around 3.20 to 3.35 grams, yielding approximately ninety-six coins per Roman pound (libra). Because blank preparation relied on weighing batches rather than calibrating individual flans with absolute precision, surviving specimens typically range between 2.90 and 3.50 grams, with typical diameters measuring between 18 and 20 millimeters. Die alignment was predominantly oriented in an upright or inverted axial relationship (frequently close to six o'clock or twelve o'clock), reflective of the regularized die-setting techniques practiced by the Rome mint artisans. The quality of engraving reached a peak of naturalistic realism and artistic balance, evident in the crisp lettering and clean contours of the figures.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC II Trajan 191 displays a right-facing portrait of Trajan wearing a laurel wreath, with a small fold of drapery visible over his left shoulder. This specific portrait treatment differentiates the type from purely bare-necked representations or fully draped and cuirassed variants found on other contemporary emissions. Trajan's features are executed in the classicizing, sober realism that characterized his middle-period coinage. His facial profile exhibits a firm, squared jaw, a broad forehead with straight bangs combed forward over the brow, a prominent nose, and an alert, determined expression. The laurel wreath sits securely upon his head, tied at the nape with dangling ribbon ends (taeniae) rendered in fine relief. The drapery on the left shoulder is a subtle bust truncation style favoured by the Rome mint engravers, balancing the heroic nudity of the neck with an understated reminder of civic or military costume. The portrait is framed neatly within an unbroken border of dots, creating a balanced compositional plane that highlights the imperial profile against the open field.

Reverse Iconography of Spes

The reverse of the coin presents Spes, the personification of hope, advancing lightly toward the left. In her right hand, raised outward, she holds up a delicate blossom, conventionally interpreted as a flower bud symbolizing emergent life and forthcoming blossom. With her left hand, Spes gathers up and lifts the skirt of her long, flowing stola or chiton to permit an unencumbered stride. This iconographic schema traces its lineage back to archaic Greek korai figures and was deeply embedded in Roman religious thought as an emblem of youth, dynastic expectation, and auspicious beginnings. In earlier Julio-Claudian and Flavian issues, Spes was frequently invoked to herald young imperial heirs or anticipated success in military campaigns. Under Trajan, who held power without a natural-born son, the invocation of Spes took on broader civic and ideological dimensions. Spes represented the hopeful regeneration of the Roman world, guaranteed by the virtues and governance of an emperor uniquely favored by the Senate and the gods. The figure is carved with elegance, her gathered drapery falling in rhythmic folds that suggest fluid motion across an implied ground line.

Epigraphy and Imperial Titulature

The legends on both faces of RIC II Trajan 191 combine to form an eloquent ideological statement that unifies Trajan's imperial titles with Senatorial praise. The obverse legend reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P. Expanded, this represents Imperatori Traiano Augusto Germanico Dacico, Pontifici Maximo, Tribunicia Potestate, Consuli Quintum, Patri Patriae. The use of the dative case (Imperatori Traiano) is significant; it reflects an honorific dedication addressed directly to the emperor rather than a standard nominative signature. The inclusion of Germanicus and Dacicus commemorates his victorious campaigns on the Rhine and Danube, while COS V establishes that the coin was minted during his fifth consulship, which commenced on January 1, AD 103. The reverse legend completes this dedicatory sentence with S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI (Senatus Populusque Romanus Optimo Principi), translating to 'The Senate and the Roman People, to the Best of Princes.' The title Optimus Princeps was formally bestowed upon Trajan by the Senate to laud his civil moderation, justice, and devotion to the common welfare, drawing an intentional contrast with the tyrannical memory of Domitian. Together, the inscriptions articulate a unified message: the state and the people offer this coinage and praise to their consummate ruler, whose military triumphs have inaugurated an age of security and hope.

Typology, Dating, and Modern Classification

Chronologically, RIC II Trajan 191 is securely dated between AD 103 and AD 111. The starting boundary of AD 103 is established by the consular title COS V, while the terminal date of AD 111 precedes Trajan entering his sixth consulship (COS VI) on January 1, AD 112. In the foundational twentieth-century classification of Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage Volume II, the coin was assigned number 191 within the extensive 'Optimo Principi' series of denarii. In his specialized corpus Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Paul Strack refined the internal sequencing of these emissions by examining bust styles and titulature shifts, noting how the Spes type persisted alongside companion reverses showing Pax, Felicitas, and Dacian trophies. More recently, Bernhard Woytek's Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (MIR 14) established a meticulous relative chronology based on comprehensive die analysis. Woytek demonstrated that the S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI coinage was struck in successive sub-phases across the AD 103 to 111 interval, with particular bust variations such as the draped left shoulder serving as chronological markers within the Rome mint's production schedule. While minor variations in die cutting, lettering spacing, and drapery folds exist across individual dies, RIC II Trajan 191 remains a well-defined conceptual type characterized by its specific bust truncation and advancing Spes motif.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Economic Role

The massive output of the S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI series ensured that RIC II Trajan 191 enjoyed extensive circulation across the Roman Empire and beyond its frontiers. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine limes, the Danubian provinces, and the Levant demonstrates that Trajan's COS V denarii formed a major component of the second-century silver currency pool. Because Trajan simultaneously retired much of the pre-Flavian silver coinage, newly struck issues like RIC II Trajan 191 rapidly dominated active market transactions and military payrolls. These coins frequently remained in daily circulation for decades; many examples appear in third-century hoards, exhibiting substantial surface wear from continuous handling. Additionally, specimens of this type circulated beyond the imperial borders into Barbaricum, notably in Free Germany and the Sarmatian territories, where Roman denarii were prized for their reliable bullion content and often hoarded as prestige wealth. The ubiquity of the type in archaeological excavations underlines its effectiveness as both a stable unit of purchasing power and an enduring instrument of imperial public messaging throughout the Mediterranean world.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 67-68
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II Trajan 191. ric.2.tr.191
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II: Vespasian to Hadrian. p. 257, no. 191
4. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil I: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Traian. nos. 132-134
5. Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117) (Moneta Imperii Romani 14). no. 273b