Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.34 g, 7h). Rome

Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.34 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck winter AD 114-spring 115. Laureate and draped bust right / Trajan's Column: column surmounted by statue of Trajan standing left, holding patera and scepter, and set on podium decorated with two eagles. RIC II 356; Woytek 514v3 (same obv. die); RSC 284. Lightly toned, some faint hairlines. Good VF.

Ex MKD Collection (Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 436, 23 January 2019), lot 560; A. Lynn Collection, purchased from Freeman & Sear, 2009.

Trajan's Column was the crowning glory of the Forum Traiani, built with the spoils of the Dacian Wars. Covered by a continuous frieze of the war's events, the column was capped with a gilded heroic statue of the emperor, while an inscription on the base recounted the feat of engineering in the forum's construction. After Trajan's death, the column became the repository of his ashes.