Trajan’s Column

294, Lot: 664. Estimate $300. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.44 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 114-115. Laureate and draped bust right / Trajan’s column surmounted by statue of Trajan, holding patera and scepter; two eagles at base. RIC II 356; Woytek 514v; RSC 284. Near EF, lightly toned, underlying luster.

Ex Helios 7 (12 December 2011), lot 727.

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.