Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 1439. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TRAJAN. 98-117 AR Denarius (3.20 gm). Restored issue of L. Rubrius Dossenus. Struck circa 107 AD. Diademed, veiled, and draped bust of Juno right, sceptre across shoulder / Slow quadriga right; car decorated with Victory holding palm and wreath; side panel decorated with eagle. RIC II 778; Komnick Type V13 (V1/R1); H. Mattingly, "The Restored Coins of Trajan," NumChron 1926, 11c; BMCRE 677; RSC 11b. VF, trace of porosity on reverse. Very rare. ($2000)

In sharp contrast to Domitian, Trajan spent much of his reign establishing good and sensitive relations with the Senate. To accomplish this, a series of restoration issues of Republican denarii were struck during his reign. According to Mattingly, their purpose was "to revive the glorious memories of the old days and link them up with the new glories of the Empire." While many of the issues related to specific past events and known individuals connected to Rome and liberty, concepts which Trajan himself tried to promote, nothing is known today of the above individual and his potential connection to that program.