Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Trajan AR Denarius. Rome, circa AD 107. Restored issue of C. Numonius Vaala. C NVMONIVS VAALA, bare head of Caius Numonius Vaala to right, assimilating the features of Octavian and/or Trajan / IMP CAES TRAIAN AVG GER DAC P P REST, soldier standing to left, holding spear and shield, assaulting foe who stands behind rampart, brandishing javelin; VAALA in exergue. RIC 812; BMCRE 690; cf. RSC Numonia 2 and Crawford 514/2 for prototype. 3.02g, 19mm, 6h.
Good Very Fine. Excessively Rare, one of very few known examples.
The occasion for this 'restitution' series issued under Trajan may have been the melting down of old coinage as mentioned in Cassius Dio (67.15), for Mattingly and Sydenham (RIC II, P. 303) proposed that "since the Romans regarded their coins with a certain amount of reverence as products of the Sacra Moneta it is not unnatural to conclude that they valued them also as historical monuments. The dominating trait in the character of Trajan was a desire to emphasise and expand the glory of Rome. It seems reasonable, therefore, to suggest that this was his motive for issuing the Restored Coins; and, by thus placing together a series of types illustrative of the development of Rome, Trajan may not ineptly be regarded as one of the first to recognize Numismatics as an aid to History."
The C. Numonius Vaala named on the obverse may have been an acquaintance of Horace, who lived near Velia and Salernum in Campania, and to whom in about 22 BC, Horace, seeking a place to spend the winter, addressed a letter, inquiring as to the climate of the area. The ancestor depicted on the reverse is not known to history, though we can deduce that in the course of battle he was the first to storm a vallum (frequently an earthen rampart with a wooden pallisade) and for this was awarded the Corona Vallaris – a prestigious military honour – and took the cognomen Vaala which he passed on to his descendants.
Good Very Fine. Excessively Rare, one of very few known examples.
The occasion for this 'restitution' series issued under Trajan may have been the melting down of old coinage as mentioned in Cassius Dio (67.15), for Mattingly and Sydenham (RIC II, P. 303) proposed that "since the Romans regarded their coins with a certain amount of reverence as products of the Sacra Moneta it is not unnatural to conclude that they valued them also as historical monuments. The dominating trait in the character of Trajan was a desire to emphasise and expand the glory of Rome. It seems reasonable, therefore, to suggest that this was his motive for issuing the Restored Coins; and, by thus placing together a series of types illustrative of the development of Rome, Trajan may not ineptly be regarded as one of the first to recognize Numismatics as an aid to History."
The C. Numonius Vaala named on the obverse may have been an acquaintance of Horace, who lived near Velia and Salernum in Campania, and to whom in about 22 BC, Horace, seeking a place to spend the winter, addressed a letter, inquiring as to the climate of the area. The ancestor depicted on the reverse is not known to history, though we can deduce that in the course of battle he was the first to storm a vallum (frequently an earthen rampart with a wooden pallisade) and for this was awarded the Corona Vallaris – a prestigious military honour – and took the cognomen Vaala which he passed on to his descendants.