RPC III, 6537

 

Image of specimen #10

 

Coin type
Volume III
Number 6537
Province Uncertain
Region Uncertain
City Uncertain
Reign Trajan
Person (obv.) Trajan (Augustus)
Issue Coins with Latin legends
Obverse inscription IMP TRAIANO, CAE (in exergue)
Edition Imp(erator) Traiano Cae(sari)
Translation to Emperor Trajan Caesar
Obverse design eagle with outstretched wings standing on thunderbolt, head left
Reverse inscription GER (upwards in l. field) / DAC (downwards in r. field)
Edition Ger(manicus) Dac(icus)
Translation Germanicus Dacicus
Reverse design cornucopia
Metal copper-based alloy
Average diameter 18 mm
Average weight 3.97 g
Axis 3, 4
Specimens 12 (2 in the core collections)
Note These intriguing coins (6537 to 6545) are now quite well known, though further variants may of course come to light. They should date from the first half of Trajan’s reign, after the emperor was styled Dacicus, at the end of AD 102. No indication of mint is given, but it is difficult to consider them as part of the regular imperial coinage, and they are not included in Woytek’s book. We have several eastern provenances: the four specimens acquired by Lindgren, the Kovacs specimens which are said to have come from Sophene, the specimen in the AUB collection and the coin 2 discovered in the excavations at Perrhe, in the province of Samosata. The provenances, as well as the typical eastern patina of some specimens, point towards Samosata, Commagene or the northern part of Syria.They represent two denominations (one of 16-17 mm and about 4 g; the other of 13 mm and about 2 g).

Specimens of this coin type

Number Number Museum Bibliography
1 1     O
2 2     Kovacs coll.
3 3     Gorny & Mosch 118, 14 Oct. 2002, lot 1585
4 4     CNG EA 197, Wagner coll., 15 Oct. 2008, lot 100
6 6     L: 1932,0544.1 ex Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle
7 7     CGT coll., ex eBay ACC
8 8     CGT coll., ex Roma Numismatics EA 8, 1 June 2014, lot 393
9 9     CGT coll.
10 10     ✸ R. Effler coll. (ex Leu EA 17, 14 Aug. 2021, lot 2121)
11 11     Leu EA 18, 18-20 Dec. 2021, lot 2216
12 12     Olympus Numismatik 2, 2 Apr. 2023, lot 224
13 13     Zeus Budget 15, 21 Feb. 2021, lot 252