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Rare Trajan Gold Aureus with Nabataean Reverse
1223 Trajan. Gold Aureus (7.30 g), AD 98-117. Rome, ca. AD 108-110. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P
M TR P, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Trajan right. Rev. COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC,
Arabia, draped, standing facing, head left, holding branch and bundle of canes(?); before her, camel walking
left. (cf. RIC 142 (bust); Woytek 290f; BMC 294-5; Calicó 1004a).
Rare.
Well struck and perfectly centered.
Lustrous surfaces. Extremely fine.
$ 15,000
The reverse of this rare aureus celebrates Trajan’s annexation of the kingdom of the Nabataean Arabs as the Roman-administered
province of Arabia in AD 106. When Rabbel II, the reigning Nabataean king died, Trajan dispatched two legions to secure the
leaderless kingdom as part of his long-term preparations for a grand campaign against the Parthians. Despite the existence of an
heir, there seems to have been little serious resistance to the Roman takeover and Trajan never adopted the title Arabicus. The reverse
shows the personification of Arabia, whose camel at her feet clearly identifies her, and the mysterious objects that she cradles in her
arm have been variously described as a bundle of cinnamon or incense - luxury products for which Arabia was famous.
Rare Trajan’s Forum Reverse Gold Aureus
1224
Trajan. Gold Aureus (7.17 g), AD 98-117. Rome, ca. AD 112/3. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M
TR P COS VI P P, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Trajan right. Rev. FORVM TRAIAN in exergue,
hexastyle entrance arch to the Forum Traiani surmounted by three statuary groups; the central group
depicting the emperor and Nike within a facing quadriga, and the groups to either side depicting a trophy
between two standing figures; along the facing wall and between each column, two niches containing
statues either side of an open doorway, all ornamented with a shield or wreath above. (cf. RIC 255 (bust
type); Woytek 403f1 (same rev. die); BMC 510; Calicó 1030). An important architechtural type. Lustrous.
About extremely fine.
$ 12,500
The reverse of this coin depicts the façade of Trajan’s Forum, notable as both the last of the imperial fora to be constructed in Rome
and for the financing of its construction from the spoils of Trajan’s victorious Dacian campaign of AD 105-106. Indeed, it was a
grand monument to the emperor’s Dacian victories that included within its portico-lined piazza the famous Column of Trajan,
which documented the campaign, Trajan’s Market, and the Basilica Ulpia, which was surmounted by an equestrian statue of Trajan
so great in size and majesty that it caused even the late emperor Constantius II to marvel at it on a rare visit to Rome.