Trajan. Æ Dupondius, Rome, AD 112-114

Trajan. Æ Dupondius, Rome, AD 112-114; 11.51 g, 27 mm, die axis 6 h. Obverse legend IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO PM TRP COS VI PP; radiate, draped bust right. Reverse legend SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI; within an oak-wreath, large S C. Dark brown patina with patches of original red cuprite and traces of green encrustation; legends readable, wreath devices mostly intact. Reference: RIC II Trajan 651; BMCRE 1039; Cohen 554.

The issue belongs to Trajan’s final bronze series, struck after his assumption of the unique honorific Optimus Princeps and during preparations for the second Parthian campaign. The Senate’s inscription SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI encircling the civic “corona civica” of oak leaves formally acknowledges his role as preserver of Roman lives and liberties, a distinction traditionally granted for saving citizens in battle but here extended to an emperor whose reign combined military expansion with civic benefaction.