Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 525 19-20 Oct 2022
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Trajan Decius. AD 249-251. AR Antoninianus (22.5mm, 5.03 g, 6h). Rome mint, 1st officina. 3rd-4th emissions, AD 250. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / DACIA, Dacia standing left, holding Draco standard. RIC IV 12b corr. (rev. description); RSC 16 corr. (same). Lightly toned with underlying luster, a few light marks. Good VF.
RIC describes this reverse as an ass's head in error. The Draco standard has long been known to numismatists and historians alike as the signa of Provincia Dacia; it is a battle standard with the head of a dragon made of a hollow metal tube, often with multiple tongues in its jaw which would make a howling noise as wind passed through, colorful fabric streamers were attached to flow in the breeze behind it representing its tail. Several Draco standards can be seen carved into Trajan's Column in Rome.
Ammianus Marcellinus wrote of the draco- "Behind the motley cavalcade that preceded him the emperor's person was surrounded by purple banners woven in the form of dragons and attached to the tops of gilded and jewelled spears; the breeze blew through their gaping jaws so that they seemed to be hissing with rage, and their voluminous tails streamed behind them on the wind." The Later Roman Empire, book 16, 10:7
RIC describes this reverse as an ass's head in error. The Draco standard has long been known to numismatists and historians alike as the signa of Provincia Dacia; it is a battle standard with the head of a dragon made of a hollow metal tube, often with multiple tongues in its jaw which would make a howling noise as wind passed through, colorful fabric streamers were attached to flow in the breeze behind it representing its tail. Several Draco standards can be seen carved into Trajan's Column in Rome.
Ammianus Marcellinus wrote of the draco- "Behind the motley cavalcade that preceded him the emperor's person was surrounded by purple banners woven in the form of dragons and attached to the tops of gilded and jewelled spears; the breeze blew through their gaping jaws so that they seemed to be hissing with rage, and their voluminous tails streamed behind them on the wind." The Later Roman Empire, book 16, 10:7