Around 35 years ago I shifted my numismatic interests from general Greek and Roman coins to late Roman and more specifically, Byzantine coins. But still, from time to time I run across an earlier Roman piece that persuades me to add it to my collection. This denarius of Trajan is one such example (RIC II 243 var. (bust type); Woytek 395h).It has an interesting story. The reverse commemorates the provisioning of grain for the province of Italy. CNG’s database records one example of this bust type, with cuirass and drapery, as opposed to 7-8 of the usual type with a bare bust (https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=266942). The CNG site noted that the cuirassed and draped bust is an extremely rare variety. I guess it indeed is: it brought $800 against a $150 estimate. Their citation was to Die Reichsprägung des Kaisers Traianus (98-117), by Bernhard Woytek, Wien, 2010, (a corpus of all imperial issues of Trajan). Woytek cited the type as appearing from 1 known example (whereas the usual type with the bare bust which he cites is known from over 50 specimens). The single instance of this type he notes as “in trade” and he cites 2 Harlan Berk sales for the same coin, in 1990 and again 1994. And guess what? My example is the Woytek plate coin, and is also, of course the same coin in the 2 Berk sales. It was fun to find that out. I apologize that the reverse image is a little blurred.
Congrats on the plate surprise. In any case it's a very enviable coin. The bust portrait is excellent!
Very nice bust type! Not just rare, but beautiful too. (P.S. We need you in this thread, V: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/your-latest.298844/#post-2781343 )
A fantastic coin with an excellent write-up that explains to us non-Trajan specialist why this coin is, well, special. Congrats!
This is my only Roman "plate" coin I own. In the Byzantine series, I do have some of the plate coins from Sear's book and Hahn's Moneta Imperii Byzantini as well as a few coins that should be in Hahn's book. But my Roman and Greek coins do take me back to my youth - I bought them when they were not as old as they are now!
