I know the Column is the preferred type for a Trajan but I cant see spending a few hundred on a decent one. I have always liked the art of Victory on his reverses. One came up at a price I liked so I bought it. The coin is a brighter silver in-hand. Trajan ( 98 - 117 A.D.) AR Denarius O: IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM Laureate head right. R: P M TR P COS IIII P P Victory standing facing, head left, holding wreath and palm. RIC 58 RSC 240 BMCRE 115 17.6mm 3.5g
Looks cleaned j/k! I need to pick up some ancients some day. My only big vacation was to Italy and I got to see Trajan's column (along with so many other cool things) It would be pretty cool to have a coin from that era too.
Boy that is a grumpy looking Trajan! Trajan is one of my favorite emperors, his portraits usually have good style. Very nice coin Mat. I find the column coin very overpriced, like lots of other famous reverses. If I have the money I would take quite a few less famous coins in exchange for that one myself. Trajan's column, Port of Ostia Nero, etc are fabulous coins, but you have severe competition from doctors who took a trip to Rome and wanted a coin with the column set. I see the same with competition for Cleo VII coins, Marc Antony, and especially Julius Caesar. I have some of these, but believe the prices are way higher than rarity would dictate due to name familiarity. Not many people walk into a coin store wanting an Elagabalus or a Probus unless they are ancient collectors. While one of the "famous" coins could be a wonderful capstone to a collection, having just one Trajan that is a column would look a lot more like a dentist's part time time waste than a serious ancient collector's collection. No offense Camaro!
They seem too complicated....I feel like I should wait a while, before I go jumping in a pool that I don't know how deep it is.
It is a very presentable coin. There are a couple different styles of portraits for Trajan. This is a good example of the heavier one. The other is a bit more refined with smaller features.
Trajan Portrait styles Victory looks beautiful on the reverse, I love how her drapery is low around her waist. Beautiful coin man! I don't have any Trajan coins with that earlier style portrait. As to what doug was saying about Trajan portraits, here is an example of the other most common one I see, and I also include one of a less common portrait type of Trajan, called a "heroic bust" by some collectors, a similar style was also used on some Denarii of Hadrian. The first two pictures (same coin in both) is one of the most common portraits used on Denarii of Trajan.
All three are great coins & I liked the Heroic busts also but the reverse just won out over other coins of him I was looking at. Plus the price was right.
Yeah, I just love that reverse, Victory looks so beautiful, her wings and everything..... just fantastic Mat!! Great addition! Plus, Trajan being such a popular and well known Emperor..... it's always good to have a Trajan in your collection
Me too Randy, and thank you for your comment. I'd like to find a nice Trajan Dupondius, I have a thing for the Radiate crown, and if I could find a Heroic bust Dupondius of Trajan with a cool reverse, that would be great.... I have seen some very very nice AE Dupondii of Hadrian with the 'Heroic Bust', however I have not seen any 'Heroic Bust' AE's of Trajan.... I assume they struck them and I just have yet to see one. Then again I hadn't seen a 'Heroic Bust' of Trajan at all, ever.... on any coins, untill the AR Denarius I bought , the 3rd one down in my previous post with Providentia on the reverse and 'PRO VID' in the fields. It is definitely my favorite Denarius of Trajan in my collection.
