Trajan Ric 269 — Certificate Of Authenticity

This silver denarius of Trajan, struck at Rome within the coinage group bearing the titulature COS VI, belongs to the type RIC II 269 / OCRE ric.2.tr.269, with obverse IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P and reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, where Mars advances to the right holding his spear and a trophy; the standard online reference literature places it within AD 112–114, with typical metrics around 3.3 g for 19 mm and an observed variation of about 2.89 to 3.57 g for 18 to 21 mm, which makes the specimen examined here, at 3.22 g for 19 mm, particularly well aligned with the documented standard. The pairing RIC 269 and Woytek 423v is moreover explicitly published by specialized professionals for this same iconographic scheme, with a laureate and draped bust right and Mars advancing right on the reverse.

Analysis & Expertise
Close observation under ×10 magnification and raking light. The obverse presents a portrait of Trajan of very fine plastic firmness, with hair rendered in thick, supple locks, well ordered beneath a laurel wreath readable in its structure, a broad forehead, a distinctly open eye, a frank nasal line, a tight mouth, and a solidly modeled chin; the slight drapery over the left shoulder, clearly visible, reinforces the typological precision of the bust and accords exactly with the type description published for RIC 269, which retains a laureate and draped bust right. The peripheral legend remains very largely legible, with regular letter relief and a beaded border followed around most of the circumference, giving the obverse a particularly satisfying cabinet presence.

The reverse retains particularly clear iconographic readability, as Mars appears marching to the right in an energetic, immediately intelligible stance, holding a transverse spear and carrying on the shoulder a well-individualized trophy; the god’s silhouette, the dynamic verticality of the weapon, the mass of the trophy, and the ample layout of the legend S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI correspond precisely to the scheme described by Numista and by specialized comparanda published under Woytek 423v and RIC 269. The relief remains sufficiently crisp to preserve the full visual value of the type, a point of particular importance for this issue, whose collector interest largely rests on the combined quality of the imperial portrait and the martial reverse.

The silver surface shows a coherent ancient physiognomy, with a nuanced light-gray tone, relief well catching on the high points of the face, wreath, and Mars, as well as fine old handling marks—normal for a denarius that truly circulated—without any impairment of type legibility; the flan, slightly irregular in outline, shows discreet marginal tensions and locally softer edge areas, features fully compatible with a hammer strike on an irregular round flan exactly as documented for this issue. The overall impression remains very sound, both in style and in materiality.

The numismatic interest of this specimen lies in the conjunction of a first-rate portrait, a fully legible martial reverse, metrology very well centered within the type’s range, and a tightly framed bibliographic attribution to RIC 269 / Woytek 423v; it is a type closely followed by Trajan collectors, Numista assigning it a rarity index of 94, which allows it to be presented, with full justification, as a sought-after issue while remaining within an objectively documented framework.

Characteristics
Authority. The issue belongs to Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus), Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117.
Mint. Rome.
Dating. RIC 269 is placed by Numista / OCRE within AD 112–114, while a reference comparandum published by Leu Numismatik dates it more narrowly to AD 113–114; the specimen therefore falls securely within this Roman sequence of the reign.
Denomination. Denarius.
Metal. Silver.
Weight. The recorded weight for this specimen is 3.22 g, fully consistent with the published range for the type.
Diameter. The recorded diameter is 19 mm, exactly matching the published reference diameter for RIC 269.
Technique. Hammer struck on an irregular round flan.
Obverse. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate and draped bust of Trajan right.
Reverse. S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Mars advancing right, holding a spear and a trophy on the shoulder.
Typological references. RIC II 269, OCRE ric.2.tr.269, with specialized publication under Woytek 423v.

Historical context
This issue belongs to the mature phase of Trajan’s principate, when the titulature GER DAC and the formula COS VI P P are already stabilized in Rome’s coinage, and when the reverse legend S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI presents the official recognition of the prince as optimus princeps, i.e., an exemplary ruler in the public language of the Senate and People of Rome. The type does not merely illustrate a generic martial scene: it directly articulates the imperial portrait, triumphal titulature, and an image of Mars in motion, condensing military virtue in an immediately legible form.

The choice of Mars advancing with spear and trophy belongs to a vocabulary of victory and disciplined power characteristic of Trajanic coinage; the comparandum published by Leu describes exactly this composition and assigns it without ambiguity to the AD 113–114 group, confirming the historical and typological coherence of the coin as presented here. We are thus dealing with a denarius in which the political message is expressed less through allegorical overload than through a sober, deeply Roman monumentality, perfectly suited to Trajan’s public image.

Cultural value
The cultural interest of this coin is high, because it concentrates within a small silver module several defining traits of Trajan’s best coinage: an excellent-style portrait, a highly meaningful titulature, and a martial reverse in which the presence of Mars is not mere ornament but a true ideological formulation of power. The piece thus belongs to that category of denarii in which engraving quality and the political density of iconography answer one another with particular clarity.

For the knowledgeable collector, the RIC 269 / Woytek 423v type has specific attractiveness, since it unites a perfectly classical scheme of the reign with a very strong reverse presence while remaining a sought-after type in contemporary collecting corpora; the fact that specialized professionals explicitly publish it under Woytek 423v with mention of the fine portrait confirms its place in a demanding Trajanic denarius collection.

Traceability & Guarantees
From a European provenance, from an established numismatic dealer, this specimen was acquired through a specialized international transaction conducted within a recognized numismatic network and validated by reference experts, according to the highest standards of the art and heritage market; examination of the present object retains only the stylistic, technical, epigraphic, and metrological characteristics effectively observable, set within the framework of the Roman Trajan / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI / Mars group, and compared against the typological references currently available.

Each specimen is examined, described, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity in accordance with the standards of the art and heritage market; in the present case, the concordance between the obverse titulature, the draped bust type, the reverse with Mars advancing right holding spear and trophy, the observed metrology, the Rome mint, and the references RIC II 269 / OCRE ric.2.tr.269 / Woytek 423v establishes a particularly solid numismatic attribution, formulated for a knowledgeable collecting audience within a framework of strict descriptive exactitude.