Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XV 5 Apr 2018
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Divus Claudius AV Aureus. Rome, restitution issue by Trajan circa AD 112-113. DIVVS CLAVDIVS, laureate bust of the deified Claudius to right / IMP CAES TRAIAN AVG GER DAC•P•REST•, Concordia seated to left, holding patera and double cornucopiae. RIC 823; BMCRE -; C.110; Calicó 387. 7.21g, 20mm, 7h.
Near Extremely Fine. Of the greatest rarity.
From the property of B.R.S., United Kingdom.
Though 'restored' coinage was nothing new to the Romans in Trajan's time – they had made their first appearance under the Flavians, and been continued under Nerva – previous restorations had confined themselves only to the bronzes of certain well-remembered emperors. Trajan's great restoration however consisted entirely of aurei and denarii, and went much further, by restoring Republican types, and effectively inventing wholly new ones. 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, pg. 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 present type had no original prototype issued under Claudius during his lifetime, or indeed after his deification in the reign of Nero. The reverse type was used in the same form by Nero however, and bears a passing resemblance to the 'CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI' aureus type of Claudius.
Near Extremely Fine. Of the greatest rarity.
From the property of B.R.S., United Kingdom.
Though 'restored' coinage was nothing new to the Romans in Trajan's time – they had made their first appearance under the Flavians, and been continued under Nerva – previous restorations had confined themselves only to the bronzes of certain well-remembered emperors. Trajan's great restoration however consisted entirely of aurei and denarii, and went much further, by restoring Republican types, and effectively inventing wholly new ones. 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, pg. 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 present type had no original prototype issued under Claudius during his lifetime, or indeed after his deification in the reign of Nero. The reverse type was used in the same form by Nero however, and bears a passing resemblance to the 'CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI' aureus type of Claudius.