100 Lei 1900 years since the inauguration of Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column was dedicated in 113 AD, meaning this coin commemorates a date that falls awkwardly between the column's dedication and the conclusion of the Dacian Wars it depicts — the second campaign ended in 106 AD, not 113. Moldova's stake in the subject is a legitimate one: the Dacian territories that became the Roman province of Dacia correspond broadly to modern Romanian and Moldovan geography, and the Roman conquest is foundational to the Latin-language identity that distinguishes Moldovan and Romanian from surrounding Slavic cultures.

The column's internal spiral frieze runs roughly 190 meters if unrolled — carved without the expectation that most of it would ever be seen at ground level.