Another new pickup. Well, all of my ancients are somewhat new pickups since I only recently contracted Ancient Fever. Stumbled upon this type while browsing wildwinds, was smitten. Would love to find a specimen as fine as the wildwinds example but this one is still pretty nice and I was lucky enough to get it at auction for a reasonable price. PHOENICIA, Aradus Trajan. AD 98-117 Æ22, 9.65 g CY 375 (AD 116/7) Obverse: draped bust of Astarte-Europa right; before, small laureate and draped bust of Trajan Reverse: bull charging left SNG Copenhagen 81; BMC 374
Very interesting coin. I especially like it with the Emperor in the distance, not the main subject of the coin. Very cool and unusual!
It's a fabulous coin! Great detail, and a perfect desert "patina". I've only got one Trajan to share, but it's one of my prized possessions...
Yeah, this is great! Get to post them twice And after certain threads elsewhere died down I was jonesin' for more. Hello, CoinTalk! Risky though. Now I'll be exposed to a bunch more coins that will induce lust and reckless spending. But I'm sure you've never experienced that, Anoob... JohnA-- that is one fine Trajan. Lately many of the coins which catch my eye are Trajans. He has many interesting reverses. And for a Roman emperor he seems like one of the more decent human beings so I can further rationalize purchasing his coins as 'paying respect' (yeah, it's a stretch but I needz my rationalz)
I also really respect Trajan. Btw so did the Romans. Remember the old blessing, "May you be luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan". I am sure I butchered it, but you get the idea. Personally, from a coin point of view, I think the "five good emperors" are better to collect than the 12 Caesars, especially considering price.
Great pickup! Here is the best imo of my few Trajans: (a little tooled unfortunately but I think it still looks great)
He was definitely one of the better rulers, and you're right about the reverse designs - a lot of variety there. But his portraits are also very striking - you can't mistake him for anyone else. I'll echo Chris's comment about the portraits on your coin: it's interesting and unusual that the emperor's bust is smaller than Astarte's. Very nice choice!
Very cool coin, never seen that type before. I like the reverse especially. my only trajan Trajan (98 - 117 A.D.) AR Denarius O: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, Laureate bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder. R: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC, Spes walking left, flower in right, raising hem of skirt. Rome 3.5g 20mm SRCV II 3127, RIC II 127, RSC II 84
TIF => fantastic new Trajan (nice lookin' bull) I have 3 Trajans that I'd like to add to your great thread (hope that's okay?): AR Tetradrachm AE Dupondius AE Dichalkon
The Astarte is a great coin and sufficiently different that most of us who have collected for a long time don't have to show. Congratulations.
TIF, the two examples of this coin at Wildwinds are in a higher grade, but if I was given a choice between the three for my collection, I would pick yours. As far as eye-appeal goes, I have a bias toward coins in lesser grades with desert patinas. Not only do they have character, but they're easier on the budget. Looking at this coin in the context of the previous semi-autonomous city coins raises a question. Tyche is predominant on the earlier issues, but by the time we get to Nero, she's replaced by Astarte. I wonder what the back-story is - I think it bears more investigation.