436, Lot: 559. Estimate $1000. Sold for $2100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 25.87 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 112-115. Laureate bust right, slight drapery / ALIM ITAL in exergue, Abundantia (or Annona) standing facing, head left, holding grain ears and cornucopia; to left, togate child standing facing. RIC II 604; Woytek 444b; Banti 8. Near EF, attractive deep brown patina with traces of green.

This type commemorates a welfare program instituted by Nerva and continued by Trajan, termed Alimenta Italia, to provide aid to Italy’s orphaned and destitute children, specifically in the way of food and subsidized education. The surprisingly modern-sounding program was funded by interest on government loans for large scale agriculture.