Watch List notes:

THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Diva Marciana, elder sister of Trajan

Denarius circa 113, AR 3.31 g. DIVA AVGVSTA – MARCIANA Diademed and draped bust r. Rev. CONSECRATIO Eagle, with spread wings, standing l. with head r. C 4. BMC Trajan 650. RIC Trajan 743. BN Trajan 758. Woytek 719.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, among the finest specimens known.
A magnificent portrait and an incredibly fresh metal, virtually as struck and almost Fdc


Historians disagree about the date of Marciana's death: some place it in 105, the year that she and Plotina jointly took the title of Augusta, while others suggest a date as late as 112 or 114. One of the two later dates seems more likely. This posthumous coinage does represent a novelty in Roman numismatics, for the word consecratio first appears here, and thereafter was employed frequently for posthumous coinages. Following Marciana's death, her daughter Matidia was raised to the rank of Augusta, and coinage was struck in her name in addition to that already being struck in the name of Trajan's wife, Plotina.