The Via Traiana

CNG 112, Lot: 616. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Sestertius (32mm, 25.39 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 112/3-114. Laureate bust right, slight drapery / Via Traiana reclining left, head right, resting elbow on rock, holding wheel balanced on knee with right hand, cradling branch in left arm. RIC II 636; Woytek 476b²; Banti 347. Olive green patina on the obverse with a green brown patina on the reverse, minor deposits of verdigris. Good VF. A very attractive example in hand.

The Via Traiana, constructed at Trajan's own expense between AD 109 and 113, replaced the Via Appia as the usual route between Brindisium to Beneventum, serving as an important link between Rome and the East.