CNG 108, Lot: 608. Estimate $1000. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Dupondius (27mm, 12.10 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 112-115. Radiate and draped bust right / Trajan's Column: column with spirals and dots set on podium decorated with eagles, surmounted by statue of Trajan, holding patera and scepter. RIC II 603 var. (bust type); Woytek 473v. Good VF, green patina, some scratches, tiny chips in patina.

Trajan's Column was the crowning glory of his Forum, the greatest of the Imperial Fora, which was 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.