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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
275, Lot: 94. Estimate $300.
Sold for $1000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 25.69 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck early AD 116-117. Laureate and draped bust right / Trajan, laureate and in military attire, standing facing, head right, holding reversed spear and parazonium; around feet, Mesopotamia seated left, in attitude of mourning, and the Tigris and Euphrates seated vis à vis, each holding reed and leaning on inverted urn from which water flows. RIC II 642; Woytek 590v. VF, brown and green patina, some minor porosity.


Property of Princeton Economics acquired by Martin Armstrong. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 50 (23 June 1999), lot 1497.

Trajan's final campaign against the Parthians was sparked by Parthia's replacement of the pro-Roman king of Armenia with one of their own in AD 114. Armenia had been a strategic and semi-independent kingdom which served as an important buffer between Parthia and Rome. The last conflict over this region, during Nero's reign, resulted in a delicate balance that stabilized the situation for over fifty years. The move by Parthia now upset the balance and posed a threat to Rome's wealthy Syrian cities. Trajan’s campaign was swift and decisive; by 115, Armenia was restored as a Roman client state. To secure the eastern frontier, he then moved southward through Mesopotamia, and captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, in 116. Although short-lived, these victories were celebrated on much of Trajan's later coinage.