455, Lot: 288. Estimate $150. Sold for $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Denarius (18.5mm, 2.88 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 113-114. Laureate bust right, with slight drapery / 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 293; Woytek 425b; RSC 558a. Toned, a couple light scratches beneath toning. VF.

From the J.B. Collection, purchased from Calgary Coin, Autumn 2006.

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.