Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Trajan AV Aureus. Rome, AD 112-113. IMP TRAIANVS AVG GER DΛC P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / DIVVS•PATER•TRAIAN, bare-headed and draped bust of Trajan's father to right. RIC 762 var. (not cuirassed); BMCRE 505 var. (same); Woytek 407f; Strack 213; Calicó 1137a (same dies). 7.15g, 20mm, 8h.
Very Fine; light hairline on rev. An extremely rare variety of a very rare type, one of apparently only three known examples.
The first of the so-called 'Adoptive Emperors', having been chosen by the childless Nerva as his successor and thus beginning the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, Trajan's biological father was Marcus Ulpius Traianus. He was from a prominent family, the gens Ulpia, who originated from Umbria but had settled in Italica in Spain where Traianus was born in AD 30. Under the future emperor Vespasian, who was at the time governor of Judaea, he commanded the Legio X Fretensis during the early stages of the First Jewish-Roman War. He came into favour with the emperor due to his military successes and in AD 70 Vespasian awarded him with a governorship followed by a suffect consulship. These positions eventually led to the governorship of Cappadocia-Galatia in AD 70/71, and then Syria in 73/74, where he prevented a Parthian invasion of the province.
With his father having lived a life of honour and distinction, there is no doubt that Trajan would have felt the pressure of expected success and likely strived to emulate his father's achievements. It is not known exactly what year Traianus died, however his son paid a joint tribute to him in AD 100 when he founded a colony in North Africa and gave it the name Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi, also honouring his late wife and daughter in the process. Highlighting the depth of respect that he had for his father, in AD 113 Trajan deified him, and coins were struck in his honour with his new title of Divus Pater Traianus, the issue during which the present aureus was struck.
Very Fine; light hairline on rev. An extremely rare variety of a very rare type, one of apparently only three known examples.
The first of the so-called 'Adoptive Emperors', having been chosen by the childless Nerva as his successor and thus beginning the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, Trajan's biological father was Marcus Ulpius Traianus. He was from a prominent family, the gens Ulpia, who originated from Umbria but had settled in Italica in Spain where Traianus was born in AD 30. Under the future emperor Vespasian, who was at the time governor of Judaea, he commanded the Legio X Fretensis during the early stages of the First Jewish-Roman War. He came into favour with the emperor due to his military successes and in AD 70 Vespasian awarded him with a governorship followed by a suffect consulship. These positions eventually led to the governorship of Cappadocia-Galatia in AD 70/71, and then Syria in 73/74, where he prevented a Parthian invasion of the province.
With his father having lived a life of honour and distinction, there is no doubt that Trajan would have felt the pressure of expected success and likely strived to emulate his father's achievements. It is not known exactly what year Traianus died, however his son paid a joint tribute to him in AD 100 when he founded a colony in North Africa and gave it the name Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi, also honouring his late wife and daughter in the process. Highlighting the depth of respect that he had for his father, in AD 113 Trajan deified him, and coins were struck in his honour with his new title of Divus Pater Traianus, the issue during which the present aureus was struck.