Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIX 26-27 Mar 2020
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Trajan AR Denarius. Restitution issue of L. Valerius Acisculus (45 BC). Rome, circa AD 107. Head of Apollo right; star above, acisculus and ACISCVLVS behind / IMP CAES TRAIAN AVG GER DAC P P REST, Europa seated on bull to right, holding billowing veil above with both hands; L•VALERIVS in exergue. RIC 804; Woytek 839; RSC 34b; cf. for prototype: Crawford 474/1a. 2.81g, 18mm, 8h.
Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; 4 examples recorded by Woytek, and only the third example to be offered at auction in the past 20 years.
Ex Walter Niggeler Collection, Bank Leu AG - Münzen und Medaillen AG, Part 3, 2 November 1967, lot 1236;
Ex Henry Platt Hall Collection, Glendining & Co., 16 November 1950, lot 1295.
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."
Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; 4 examples recorded by Woytek, and only the third example to be offered at auction in the past 20 years.
Ex Walter Niggeler Collection, Bank Leu AG - Münzen und Medaillen AG, Part 3, 2 November 1967, lot 1236;
Ex Henry Platt Hall Collection, Glendining & Co., 16 November 1950, lot 1295.
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."