Trajan AR Denarius, AD 103, Rome, OPTIMO PRINCIPI Vesta, RIC II 108

Trajan, Denarius, silver; reign AD 98–117, struck AD 103–111, Rome; 3.25 g; 19 mm. Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P; laureate head of Trajan right, slight drapery on left shoulder. Rev: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC; Vesta, draped and veiled, seated left on a backless seat, holding palladium in extended right hand and scepter in left; VESTA in exergue. Even strike on a compact flan with moderate circulation wear and light surface roughness; die axis 6h. RIC II Trajan 108.

This denarius belongs to Trajan’s “OPTIMO PRINCIPI” series issued after the Senate conferred the title Optimus Princeps in AD 103. The obverse titles record his victories in Germany and Dacia and his priestly and tribunician powers, while the reverse emphasizes Vesta’s guardianship of the state through the Palladium, a symbol of Rome’s security. The inclusion of COS V dates the type to his fifth consulship in AD 103, within an issue struck at Rome during the years of consolidation following the Dacian wars.