TRAJAN. 98-117 AD. Æ Sestertius (23.64 gm). Struck 106-111 AD. [IMP CAES NERVAE T]RAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate head right, drapery on far shoulder / PORTVM TRAIANI, S C in exergue, basin of Trajan's harbor at Porto, surrounded by warehouses and ships in center. RIC II 632; BMCRE pg. 205, * note; Cohen 306 var. (not draped). Good Fine/Nice VF, yellow-green patina. Exceptional for issue. Extremely rare. $7750.
Ex Frank Sternberg XI (20-21 November 1981), lot 631.
Documentation in ancient sources is plentiful concerning the Port of Trajan (cf. Pliny, Ep. 6.31, letter to Cornelianus); however, the exact location of the port is uncertain. In Untersuchungen zur Römischen Reichsprägung des Zweiten Jahrhunderts, teil 1, Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Traian, pp.212-3, Strack claims that it is the harbour of Trajan at Ostia as opposed to that at Centumcellae. Mattingly, in the introduction to BMCRE, vol. II, pg.civ, questions Strack's conclusion. Perhaps future archaeological fieldwork will determine the precise location of the port depicted on this issue.
