July 20th 246 AD. Following Philipp's Danubian campaigns, the provincial era of Dacia begins. The province is granted minting rights. The history Dacia became a Roman province during the reign of Trajan, was under the Roman administration until the second half of the 3rd century AD, and was partially re-conquered by Constantine. The first Roman incursion into Dacia occurred in 101 AD. Trajan used Dacian raids into Roman territory as the pretext for invasion, but he had been planning the attacks since 99 AD. This was a radical change from the Roman practice of appeasement which had been ongoing since the time of Augustus. Domitian actually set up payments to the Dacian ruler Decebalus to purchase his non-aggression. In spite of this agreement Decebalus sanctioned raids into Roman territory and in one raid the governor of Moesia was slain. Trajan struck hard and deep into the Dacian territory (modern day Romania and Hungary) in Blitzkreig fashion. Much can be learned about the Dacian Wars by studying the beautiful reliefs on the Trajan's Column which was erected in 106 AD as a memorial and a history of the first Dacian war. Rome must have built a coalition prior to the invasion as Moors and even their traditional enemies, the Parthians, are depicted fighting with the Romans. Wounded Roman soldiers (Trajan's column) The coinage The new minting privilege is demonstated by the coin series “PROVINCIA DACIA”. The first issue was produced in AD 246 during the reign of Philip I. Although a local coinage, dated by a provincial year, this coinage was struck in accordance with the official Roman bronze denominations: sestertius, dupondius...Moreover, it followed the same pattern of debasement as coins minted in Rome: the smaller denominations (dupondius,as) gradually disappeared; the sestertius denomination followed the same tricky trend of keeping the size of its diameter accompanied by a major increase in weight. The main purpose of these coins was to supply the army. The PROVINCIA DACIA coin series can therefore be closely linked with the military and their need for bronze coinage in Dacia. This hypothesis is supported by site finds from the territory of this province. The military theme of the reverse is in line with the intended audience for this coinage. It depicts the province of Dacia standing left, between an eagle and a lion. The eagle with a wreath in its beak and the lion are symbols of the legions permanently garrisoned in Dacia, the legio V Macedonica from Potaissa, and the legio XIII Gemina from Apulum. Moreover, the olive branch, the curved Dacian sword (phlax), and the standard inscribed D(acia) F(elix) are also of a military character. Finally, the legend on the reverse is inscribed PROVINCIA DACIA. The mint in the Roman province of Dacia struck coins very similar to those issued at Viminacium. Through this similarity some scholars think that coins bearing the legend PROVINCIA DACIA were struck in the mint of Viminacium. Because of the variations of style, the spreading pattern as well as the differences in the local dating in accordance to the well-known imperial chronology, the coins are recently assumed to have been minted somewhere in the province of Dacia itself. This mint was probably erected with the help from personnel from the Viminacium mint. The mint of Dacia probably did not issued silver antoniniani as it was at Viminacium but only copper and brass asses, dupondii and sestertii. According to the Roman numerals of the local year the mint of Dacia produced coins made of copper and brass until the local year XI (256/257). Like Trajan Decius, two decades earlier, Aurelian, of the same Illyrian origin, also honoured Dacia on his coinage. Philip I (year 3, 248 AD) Please show me your coins of Dacia !
Dupondius of Trajan, Dacia capta. Here is TABVLA TRAIANA, commemorating the completion of Trajan's military road located on the Serbian side facing Romania near Ogradina. And here is the modern sculpture of Decebalus along Danube, and if Trajan were to see this today, he'd either order it to blast off, or just laugh his a.. off!
Trajan Decius' Dacia antoninianus Trajan Decius, Antoninianus - Rome mint, AD 250-251 IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind DACIA, Dacia standing left holding a standard surmounted by an ass's head 3.52 gr - 20/23 mm Ref : RCV # 9368, RSC # 16, RIC IV-3 # 12b Q
Mine is Volusian ex. PeteB, 1999, year five. It's patina is a bit on the thick side. This is the only year I recall seeing on these but I have not researched it. Do note that Dacia did not use the same dating system as the more common coins of Viminacium.
SKYTHIA, Geto-Dacians. Koson. After 54 BC, AV Stater: 8.37 gm, 20 mm, 12 h. Obverse: Roman consul accompanied by two lictors. BR monogram in left field. Reverse: Eagle standing on scepter, holding wreath. RPC 1 1701A. Ex Freeman & Sear 12, Lot 96, October 2005. Koson was thought to be an ally of Brutus & Cassius, during their war with Mark Antony & Augustus Caesar. These staters are thought to be payments to mercenaries fighting on the side of Brutus & Cassius. Hoards of these coins have been found in modern Romania.
A coin celebrating Trajan's conquest (one of the few coins I overpaid for) Trajan AD 98-117. Rome Denarius AR 20 mm., 2,96 g. RIC II Trajan 130 Date Range: AD 103 - AD 111 Obverse Legend: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P Type: Bust of Trajan, laureate, right (sometimes draped on left shoulder) Reverse Legend: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC Type: Victory, naked to hips, standing right, left foot set on a step, inscribing DACICA on shield Popular Decius antoninianus And a coin from Provincia Dacia, Volusian (from what I managed to attribute) Volusian AE26 of Dacia. IMP CC VIB VOLUSIANVS AVG, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / PROVINCIA DACIA, Dacia, standing left with branch & sceptre, between eagle & lion, AN V in ex. SGI 4360. Just remembered I recently missed 2 nice denarii from Trajan, related to Dacia - a Danuvius denarius and one with Dacian trophies on reverse. I have to remember to set my priorities correctly.
Thanks for the posting, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix ... DACIA RI Trajan AR Denarius 98-117 CE Trophy over Dacian Captive RIC II 222
Trajan Ar Denarius 108-109 AD, Obv Bust right laureate aegis on far shoulder. Rv Dacian in attitude of mourning seated left upon pile of arms. RIC 98 var Woytek 283e 3.62 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen This coin celebrates the successful conclusion of the two Dacian Wars fought by Trajan and the incorporation of Dacia as a province in the Empire. It might be advertising the vast amount of gold and silver taken by the Romans during this campaign (165,500 kg of gold and 331,000Kg of silver if Wikipedia can be believed) Thus this coin could be a Roman version of the "Lima" or "Vigo" coins minted by the British. PLEASE Note: This idea is completely speculative on my part. This has not been proven nor do I think it can be. When I purchased this coin in 2012 the obverse variety with the aegis was unpublished. Woytek corrected this oversight though looking at the numbers of coins he noted having this obverse, this coin is still very scarce.
Here's my only relevant coin. Trajan (AD 98-117) AE Sestertius Date: AD 106-107 Obv: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate head right with drapery on left shoulder. Rev: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Dacia seated left on shield in attitude of mourning, before trophy; S C in exergue. Diameter: 35mm Weight: 27.71 grams RIC III 564 var Mint: Rome Ex Ploil Collection Ex NAC Spring Sale 2021 (10 May 2021), lot 1299 Ex NAC Auction 101 (24 October 2017), lot 249 Ex Gorny & Mosch Auction 125 (13 October 2003), lot 475
Here's my Trajan denarius with an extremely underfed and scrawny Dacian captive in mourning. If the average Dacian really looked like that, I'm surprised it took so long to conquer Dacia! Trajan AR Denarius, 106 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate bust right; IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TRP COS V P P / Rev. Captive Dacian in peaked cap with wide brim, seated right on shield in mournful attitude with left elbow on raised left knee, and face resting in left hand; below, curved Dacian sword (falx) right; SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI. RIC II 219 (http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=RIC+II+Trajan+219); RSC II 529; Sear RCV II 3168 (obv. var.); BMCRE 175 (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-11584). 17 mm., 3.02 g., 6 h.
As @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix noted, Trajan conquered Dacia. He issued numerous types emphasizing that fact. Here is a website on them: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Trajan/ Here is a a relevant coin: Sestertius. Large. 33-32 mm. 27.24 grams. Bust of Trajan right, with long legend including numerous titles: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS VI PP Struck 112-114. DACIA AVGVST PROVINCIA, SC below Dacia seated left on rocks, holding legionary eagle in left, with child holding bunch of grapes at her feet and a child holding two ears of grain behind her right knee. RIC 621. Sear II 3183. This type explicitly celebrates the new province of Dacia. The tiny figures show its agricultural wealth in wine and grain. Its accumulated wealth and gold mines were even more important.
Philip I. 244-249 AD. PROVINCIA DACIA. Æ (28mm, 18.10 gm, 12h). Dated local era year 2 (247/48 AD). Obv: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right. Rev: PROVINCIA DACIA, AN II in exergue, Dacia standing left, holding curved sword (logobolon?) in right hand and standards of the legions V (with eagle) and XIII (with lion). AMNG I 7; Varbanov 9. Writes a major numismatic source: "The personification of the province of Dacia holds either a sword, patera or grain ears, according to AMNG. The object on this coin resembles none of those, but rather the curved throwing stick used in hunting small game, the logobolon, but no identification can be certain. This local era for Dacia begins in 246 AD, the year Philip expelled barbarian invaders from the province."
Definitely propaganda, I mean you have the meaty mean looking Trajan juxtaposed with the sad and frail Dacian, while I'm sure in reality those Dacians would've been well fed if they're going to face off with the Romans!
This Antoninus Pius sestertius came cheap but provided me with days of fun trying to identify it as it was not listed in the RIC or Cohen Roman coin catalogs. Antoninus Pius Sestertius Dacia Obverse: Laureate head right / ANTONINVS AVG PIUS Reverse: Dacia standing left, holding crown and sword / DACIA round edge, S.C. in field COS II in exergue Size: 32 mm, thickness: 4 mm, weight: 23.58 gm Struck: AD 139 Rome mint This coin is corroded and it is hard to see the curved sword in Dacia's left hand. I found it in a 1937 German catalog of which the University of California had a copy, the catalog had the title Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts III Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit Antoninus Pius by Paul L. Strack, Stuttgart, W. Kohlhammer, 1937 This coin was part of a set issued in AD 139 depicting Roman provinces offering presents to the new Emperor Antoninus.
For some reason, nearly all Provincia Dacia coins have a very similar patina and surface. I have yet to see one in a truly great state of preservation. Mine had a bunch of encrustation which I removed with lye. The very similar Viminacium issues also tend to have an identical patina and surface quality; however I'm fortunate to have one of the best preserved examples I've seen here. This one also preserved the original coloring, indicating that the appearance and color was rather similar to the imperial sestertii.
