Sestertius - Trajan S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI S C, Tiber and Dacia

Issued during the period bracketing Trajan's two Dacian wars (101–102 and 105–106 AD), this sestertius belongs to a deliberate propaganda program celebrating the conquest that added the richest gold and silver mining territory in the Roman world to imperial control. The Dacian campaigns were expensive enough that Trajan financed much of the subsequent building boom in Rome — including his famous forum and column — directly from Dacian plunder, reportedly some 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver stripped from Decebalus's kingdom.

RIC II 558 falls within the emission attributed to the Rome mint under the broad SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI coinage, the title OPTIMUS having been formally voted to Trajan by the Senate around 114 AD — meaning coins using it before that date were anticipating an honor not yet official.