Roman Empire: silver denarius of Trajan, ca. 98-117 AD; Mars advancing

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Fun coin, LordM! Can't go wrong with a Mars reverse and a solid obverse legend on a Trajan... Get your cost per letter down!


Elagabalus, Ruled 218-222 AD
AR Antoninianus, Struck 219 AD, Rome mint
Obverse: IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, Bust of Elagabalus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, right.
Reverse: MARS VICTOR, Mars, helmeted, naked except for flowing cloak, advancing right, holding transverse spear in right hand and trophy over left shoulder in left hand.
References: RIC 122f
Size: 23mm, 5.49g
Obv Die Match: CNG E-Auction 456 (11-13-2019), lot 422
Rev Die Match: Savoca Live Online Auction 7 (2-28-2016), lot 522

 

Great Trajan, nice toning and love the strutting Mars!
I like the type so much that...

Trajan
RIC 52 Traianus (98-117 AD). AR Denarius (19 mm, 2.94 g), Roma (Rome), 101-102 AD.
Obv. IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM, laureate bust right, drapery on left shoulder.
Rev. P M TR P COS IIII P P, Mars walking right, carrying spear and trophy.
And a bronze for fun:

 

That's a lovely coin, @lordmarcovan! Trajan issued umpteen Mars coins, making attribution a challenge.

This coin is one of my favorite Trajan coins:



Trajan, AD 98-117
Roman AR denarius; 2.95 gm, 20 mm
Rome, AD 114-117
Obv: IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC, laureate and draped bust, right
Rev: P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R, Mars walking right with spear and trophy
Refs: RIC 337; BMCRE 536-40; Cohen 270; RCV --; Woytek 520v; Strack 230; BN 819.

 

I can certainly provide a poorly-photographed Mars... This time with Marcus Aurelius.

Marcus Aurelius, Denarius 173-174

Rome. Silver, 18-19mm, 3.1g. M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXVIII, Marcus Aurelius, laureate, draped. IMP VI COS III, Mars walking right, holding spear in his right hand and trophy over his left shoulder (RIC III Marcus Aurelius 286?). Found in Yorkshire. From pawnbroker Henry Hardcastle's stock after he wound down his business in York in 1923.

 

Numerian with Mars and his sensual walk + singing "I'm too sexy for my spear"...

 

One of my favorite Denarii (the coin is excellent in hand, but the auction house pics are terrible and my photographic skills are even more terrible so will use the auction house's )
Similar design to the one posted by @John Conduitt but different date and legends (John's is indeed RIC 286)

(175-176)
Obv: M ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARM
Rev: TR P XXX IMP VIII COS III, Mars

Ref: RIC 349
Weight: 3.23gr

This is my only coin depicting Mars.
I have some Trajan ones, but I will leave them for other threads.

 

Nice one, LordM!...it's funny how the different pics are so...different.

We've seen your pics & you can probably do it justice. (Ooh, that green stuff @4 o'clock! )

Btw, looks like Mars has 2 spears; or maybe he's bypassing Earth & going straight to Venus!

 

Nice Trajan on interesting flan.
Trajan

Caracalla

 

TRAJAN
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate bust right with aegis
REVERSE: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Mars standing front with spear & shield
Struck at Rome, 106-111 AD 3.2g, 18mm
RIC 162, C 378

 

Amazing different depictions of Mars - very interesting

My pictures are definitely not good, my apologies

One of Trajan:
Denarius, Rome 103 - 111 AD
RIC II Trajan 114; RSC 63; Sear 3119;
18 x 19 mm; 3.065 g
Ob.: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P Bust of Trajan, laureate, draped on left shoulder, right
Rev.: COS V P P SPQR OPTIMO PRINC Mars, helmeted, in military dress, advancing left, holding Victory in right hand and trophy in left

​

and a Probus in not very good shape
Antoninianus, Gallia, Lugdunum, struck mid-late 277 AD, Mintmark: -/-//II (2nd officina, 4th emission)
22 x 23 mm, 4.180 g

RIC V Probus 38 (C) Bust type F;
Ob.: IMP C PROBVS P F AVG Bust of Probus, radiate, cuirassed, right
Rev.: MARS VICTOR Mars, helmeted, in military attire, walking right, holding spear in right hand and trophy in left hand; Mintmark: -/-//II

​

 

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The very first coin I ordered online for my collection was a trajan denarius! ( this wasnt that long ago - january - it escalated quickly) anyway back then I just wanted one denarius, one drachm, one sestertius for no more than $50 each. I was hoping for a well known and or 'good' emperor and this is what I came up with:



I am tempted to get something of trajan in a better grade as he is one of my favorite emperors... but I really need to stop spending for a few months LOL coins have become my number one expense.

 

Good decision for choosing Trajan.
In my first lot of ancients (October 2020) in the bulk lot of "Roman bronzes" - inadequately described as there were not only bronzes and not only Roman - I also found a worn Trajan denarius. In a worse shape than yours but I was able to attribute it... and for the average price of ~4 EUR/coin one can't ask for more.

 

A wonderful coin. I especially like the centering of the obverse, really nice reverse, and overall color.

Here's some music to go with the coin, Holst's Mars, from his seminal work The Planets.

 

Nice addition @lordmarcovan . Here are a few of my favorite silver Trajan coins.

Trajan: the Best Emperor and the Mystery of the River God

Roman Empire
Trajan (AD 98-117)
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck ca. AD 107-108
Dia.: 19.1 mm
Wt.: 2.94 g
Obv.: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P; Trajan laureate bust right, left shoulder draped
Rev.: COS V PP SPQR OPTIMO PRINC; Danube, velificatio, reclining on rocks, right hand holding prow of a ship. Left arm resting on overflowing container of water. DANVVIVS in exergue.
Ref.: RIC II 100, Scarce


Phoenicia, Tyre
Trajan (AD 98 - 117)
AR Tetradrachm, Tyre mint
Dia.: 26 mm
Wt. 13.67 g
Obv.: Laureate head of Trajan right, club and eagle below.
Rev.: Laureate head of Melqart right with lion skin around neck.
Ref.: Prieur 1495ff


Roman Empire
Trajan (AD 98-117)
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck ca. AD 110
Dia.: 18 mm
Wt.: 3.46 g
Obv.: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P, Laureate bust right, slight drapery on far shoulder.
Rev.: COS V P P SPQR OPTIMO PRINC, Roma standing left, holding Victory and Spear
Ref.: RIC II 115 var., Woytek 287b
Ex AMCC 1, lot 396 (Dec. 2018), Ex Michael Higley (Spartan) Collection with tag

 

Totally forgot that I have a Trajan tetradrachm too! <3




I like how this coin and as far as I can tell, other tetradrachms in the area continued to be made mostly of silver under the roman empire whereas in egypt they are mostly bronze??