The Via Traiana

329, Lot: 432. Estimate $200. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 25.94 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 112/113-114. Laureate bust right, slight drapery / Via Traiana reclining left, head right, resting elbow on rock, holding wheel balanced on knee with right hand, cradling branch in left arm. RIC II 636; Woytek 476d; Banti 347. Good Fine, brown patina, edge dings. Rare, Banti records only 5 examples.

From the Fairfield Collection.

The Via Traiana, constructed at Trajan's own expense between AD 109 and AD 113, replaced the Via Appia as the usual route between Brindisium to Beneventum, serving as an important link between Rome and the East.