Bridge Over the Danube

Triton XX, Lot: 721. Estimate $3000. Sold for $5000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 25.57 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 107-110. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P, laureate bust right, slight drapery / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, arched, single-span bridge with seven posts across Danube River; single-bay arches at either end, surmounted by statues; boat sailing left in river below; S C in exergue. RIC II 569; Woytek 314b; Strack 385; Banti 262; BMCRE 847; BN 315 var. (six posts). Good VF, dark green and brown patina with traces of red. Evenly struck. Exceptional for the type.

From the Kallman Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 85 (15 September 2010), lot 887.

The bridge on the reverse of this coin has been generally thought to be that constructed across the Danube by Trajan’s architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, in AD 104. There is good circumstantial evidence for this. The date range for this coin’s issue is closely contemporary with the date of the bridge’s construction and would fit in well programmatically with those war-related issues of the same time frame.