Trajan. AD 98-117. AV Aureus (19.5mm, 7.27 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 111. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / COS • V • P • P • S • P • Q R OPTIMO PRINC, ALIM • ITAL in exergue, Trajan, togate, standing left, holding volumen in left hand, extending right hand to young boy and girl standing right. RIC II 93 corr. (bust type); Allen Series 43, Type XII.5 (dies –/xii.5 [unlisted obv. die]); Woytek 345f1 (same dies); Calicó 984; BMCRE 378 (same rev. die); Biaggi 462-3. Attractive reddish tone, some faint marks under tone. Near EF. Bold portrait.
Ex Provence Collection (Classical Numismatic Review XLV.1, Winter 2020), no. 521308.
This type commemorates a welfare program instituted by Trajan to provide aid to Italy's orphaned and destitute children, specifically in the way of food and subsidized education.