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Drachm - Trajan
| Issuer | Alexandria |
|---|---|
| Year | 116 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Drachm (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, draped bust of Emperor Trajan facing right, with aegis on the left shoulder. The imperial effigy is rendered in the characteristic Trajanic portrait style, with the legend disposed around the periphery in Greek characters. The nudity of the bust combined with the aegis alludes to the emperor's divine associations, a convention common in Alexandrian provincial coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΑΥΤ ΤΡΑΙΑΝ ΑΡΙ ϹЄΒ ΓЄΡΜ ΔΑΚΙΚ ΠΑΡ (Translation: Supreme commander / Imperator (Autocrator) Trajan, best aristocrat / Optimus (Aristos), emperor / Augustus (Sebastos), conqueror of the Germans, Dacicians, and the Parthians.) |
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| Additional information |
Year 20 of Trajan's reign corresponds to 116/117 AD, the year the emperor pushed Rome's eastern frontier to its greatest-ever extent — briefly reaching the Persian Gulf after the conquest of Mesopotamia. Alexandria's mint was unusually productive during this period, striking large bronze drachms to supply Egypt's closed monetary system, which remained deliberately isolated from the rest of the empire and required all incoming coinage to be exchanged for local issues.
RPC III 4958.2 distinguishes this as a specific die pairing within what is otherwise a broadly produced type.