Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Trajan AV Aureus. Rome, AD 107. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate bust right, wearing aegis / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI in three lines within oak wreath. RIC 150 var. (bust type); Strack 99 (unrecorded bust type); Woytek 224c; Calicó 1122; BMCRE 253-6 var. (bust type); BN 367-9 var. (bust type); Biaggi 545 var. (bust type). 7.09g, 19mm, 7h.
About Extremely Fine. Previously NGC graded Choice XF★, Strike 5/5 - 4/5 (5745234-004). Extremely Rare; Woytek records only five examples, no others in CoinArchives.
Ex DeBakey Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction VIII, 28 September 2014, lot 990 (hammer: £9,500);
Ex Classical Numismatic Group Inc., Auction 96, 14 May 2014, lot 783 (hammer: US$ 12,500).
Barely five years into his reign around AD 103, Trajan was accorded the title of 'Optimus' by the Senate. This singular honour, which had never before been bestowed and never would be again, was a result of Trajan's enormous popularity among his peers, and in recognition of his role as a benefactor to the people of Rome. Pliny the younger, in his Panegyricus, considered Trajan an "optimum principem" because he himself approved or disapproved of that which the Senate would, and because though in reality Trajan was an autocrat, his deferential and humble behaviour towards his peers qualified him to be seen as virtuous, wielding power through moderation rather than insolence, leading by example rather than ruling through fear.
The reverse of this coin proudly bears the title of 'Optimus Princeps', wreathed in a simple device, a corona civic (civic crown), which was a standard type often used by various emperors, but which deliberately links Trajan with the first emperor, Augustus, on whose coinage the corona civica was first displayed as the principle type. The obvious comparison between the two emperors long survived Trajan's reign, as every new emperor after him was honoured by the Senate with the wish "felicior Augusto, melior Traiano" (may he be "luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan").
About Extremely Fine. Previously NGC graded Choice XF★, Strike 5/5 - 4/5 (5745234-004). Extremely Rare; Woytek records only five examples, no others in CoinArchives.
Ex DeBakey Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction VIII, 28 September 2014, lot 990 (hammer: £9,500);
Ex Classical Numismatic Group Inc., Auction 96, 14 May 2014, lot 783 (hammer: US$ 12,500).
Barely five years into his reign around AD 103, Trajan was accorded the title of 'Optimus' by the Senate. This singular honour, which had never before been bestowed and never would be again, was a result of Trajan's enormous popularity among his peers, and in recognition of his role as a benefactor to the people of Rome. Pliny the younger, in his Panegyricus, considered Trajan an "optimum principem" because he himself approved or disapproved of that which the Senate would, and because though in reality Trajan was an autocrat, his deferential and humble behaviour towards his peers qualified him to be seen as virtuous, wielding power through moderation rather than insolence, leading by example rather than ruling through fear.
The reverse of this coin proudly bears the title of 'Optimus Princeps', wreathed in a simple device, a corona civic (civic crown), which was a standard type often used by various emperors, but which deliberately links Trajan with the first emperor, Augustus, on whose coinage the corona civica was first displayed as the principle type. The obvious comparison between the two emperors long survived Trajan's reign, as every new emperor after him was honoured by the Senate with the wish "felicior Augusto, melior Traiano" (may he be "luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan").