Trajan, 98-117, Denarius

Trajan, Denarius, AR, emperor AD 98–117; Rome mint, AD 112; 3.98 g; 19 mm. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate head of Trajan right. S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm. Struck at Rome during the sixth consulship of Trajan. RIC II Trajan 291.

Issued during Trajan’s sixth consulship, this denarius forms part of the extensive SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI series that records the Senate and People’s acclamation of the emperor as “best princeps.” The obverse titulature highlights Trajan’s German and Dacian victories and principal magistracies, situating the coin in a period of consolidation after the Dacian wars and intense public building in Rome. The series emphasized senatorial endorsement of the imperial regime and circulated widely throughout the empire.