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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 3808350, member: 75937&quot;]I posted this one a week ago or so and I&#039;ve been studying it with great interest. At first, my interest focused on the countermark, and I am thankful that [USER=85693]@Marsyas Mike[/USER]&nbsp; was <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/countermarked-trajan-sc-in-wreath-series-from-antioch.348905/#post-3790386" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/countermarked-trajan-sc-in-wreath-series-from-antioch.348905/#post-3790386">able to assist me</a> in its identification.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1015886[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Trajan, AD 98-117.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman Provincial Æ 26.3 mm, 15.83 g, 1 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch, late AD 115 to early 116.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙϹ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΑΡΙϹΤ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚ, laureate head, right. Countermark: laurel branch in incuse rectangle, Howgego 378 (69 sp.).</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: S·C in laurel wreath; Є below.</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/3616" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/3616" rel="nofollow">RPC III 3616</a>; cf. BMC 20, p. 185, 286 (with same countermark); Wruck 196; McAlee 489(e).</font></p><p><font size="3">Notes: According to <a href="http://www.romancoins.info/CMK-later.html#laureate" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.romancoins.info/CMK-later.html#laureate" rel="nofollow">Romancoins.info</a>, this is one of a group of countermarks on eastern provincial coins with possible links to the legionary administration of the eastern frontier towards Persia. The countermark was applied before A.D. 132-135. Reverse die-match to the RPC III plate coin (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Since then, I&#039;ve been focused on the obverse inscription on this coin. According to several examples in the British Museum collection and at RPC III online, the inscription comes in three types.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first type is undoubtedly the earliest and reads ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙϹ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚ; this is the Greek equivalent of IMP CAES NER TRAIANO AVG GER DAC. Trajan held the title of <i>Germanicus</i> upon assuming the throne in AD 98 after the death of Nerva and therefore the presence of this title is not helpful at dating any of his coins. He received the title of <i>Dacicus</i> in AD 102, following the battle of Tapae. Coins with this inscription must be dated to the time period of AD 102-114.</p><p><br /></p><p>The second type of obverse inscription reads ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙϹ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΑΡΙϹΤ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚ, corresponding to the Latin IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC. Trajan received the title of <i>Optimus</i> in AD 114, following the defeat of the Armenians in AD 113/14. The title is in use on Imperial and Alexandrian obverse inscriptions from AD 114-117.</p><p><br /></p><p>The third type reads ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙϹ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟϹ ΑΡΙϹΤ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚ ΠΑΡΘ (see BMC 20, p. 185, no. 287), corresponding to the Latin IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTH. Trajan received the title <i>Parthicus</i> in AD 116, and Imperial and Alexandrian coins issued from 116-117 bear that title.</p><p><br /></p><p>Therefore, the authors of RPC III date my coin to AD 114-116, after the assumption of the title <i>Optimus</i> in 114 but before the assumption of the title <i>Parthicus</i>. However, there is a clue in the inscription that I believe allows the date to be narrowed down even further, and that is the presence of NEP (Greek for NER). On the Imperial coinage, Mattingly notes that the title <i>Optimus</i> appears in the form of OPTIMO PRINCIPI on the reverses of Trajan&#039;s bronze issues in AD 114, but it is not until after the spring of AD 115 that there &quot;follows a short issue with the obv. IMP CAES TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P--the &#039;Nervae&#039; yielding place to &#039;Optimo&#039; ... Late in A.D. 115--early 116--comes an issue exactly similar to the last except that &#039;Ner&#039; reappears after &#039;Caes&#039; in the obverse legend.&quot;*</p><p><br /></p><p>Assuming there is a correspondence between the Greek titulature of the issues of Antioch and the Latin titulature on the issues of Rome -- and there appears to be -- this coin can be dated to late AD 115 to early AD 116, when CAES NER, appears on the inscriptions along with OPTIMO.</p><p><br /></p><p>Post anything you feel is relevant!</p><p><br /></p><p>*Mattingly, Harold. <i>Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum</i>. <i>Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian</i>, British Museum, 1966, p. lxiv.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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