319, Lot: 415. Estimate $100. Sold for $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Denarius (18mm, 2.95 g, 7h). Uncertain mint. Struck circa AD 118 or later. IMP TRAIANVS AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI PP, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / P M TR P COS II around, SALVS AVG in exergue, Salus seated left, holding patera over an altar. RIC II –; Woytek –; RSC –. Good VF, lightly toned, minor deposits.

This coin appears to be an unofficial hybrid of a pre-Optimus Trajan obverse type (before mid AD 114) with an early Hadrian reverse type (circa AD 118). Stylistically, the coin is slightly crude, especially the reverse, which would seem to indicate an uncertain mint – perhaps a contemporary forger’s mint. It does appear to be struck from good silver versus a fourrée.