Watch List notes:

Trajan. Sestertius; Trajan; 98-117 AD, Rome, 115 AD, Sestertius, 27.57g. Woytek-549v (71 spec.), BM-1019, Paris-844, C-178 (25 Fr.), RIC-657. Obv: IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P Bust laureate, draped r., seen from side. Rx: IMPERATOR VIIII / S C in two lines in exergue, the army saluting Trajan "imperator" for the ninth time; Trajan sits r. on platform, extending r. hand and attended by two standing officers, while a lictor shouldering fasces stands r. before platform; the army is represented by (a) three soldiers standing l., all wearing helmets and holding shields, the first two raising their r. arms to acclaim Trajan and the third holding a horse by the bridle and (b) the heads and standards of two standard-bearers, unhelmeted, visible in a second row above the heads of the soldiers and the horse in the front row. Ex Gorny & Mosch 142, 10 October 2005, lot 2494. After major victories, the army saluted the emperor "imperator" ("commander"), entitling him to celebrate a triumph in Rome if the Senate decreed one. This sestertius of Trajan, a similar sestertius with IMPERATOR VIII, and a similar aureus with IMPERATOR VII, are the only Roman coins to depict such a salutation. These three acclamations commemorated the first three victories of Trajan's Parthian war, IMP VII being accorded for his conquest of Armenia in 114, IMP VIII and VIIII for the first two victories of his second campaign in 115.While many examples of this type have come into the market, virtually every single one of them has been tooled. This coin is excessively rare in that it has never been tooled, with a beautiful olive-colored patination, and a flawless, beautifully struck obverse and reverse. MS