Trajan coin
Gift from a friend I received today.
It’s a fake ancient Roman coin which one can purchase in Italy. I was not able to find a proper, structural and descriptive interpretation of the inscription on the net except general abbreviations here and there that are in no way specific to the coin above and which on it’s own would make little sense. So, I decided to write one up.
First, inscribed on the coin is this:
IMP CAESNERVAETRAIANO AVGGER DACPM TRP COSVPP
It was initially difficult to read it the way it was meant to be read due to the kerning of the letters and copying this text to google will reap no desired results.
So I broke the text like this (which makes a lot more sense now):
IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TRP COS V PP
It still wasn’t helpful in a google search box. But seeing that we now have ‘Traiano’, it makes reading this a whole lot easier knowing that the ruler on the coin is Trajan. Yes, I could not tell by his face.
Based on Trajan’s biography, we know who his ancestors are and his accomplishments as ruler:
Imperator Caesar Nervae Traiano Augustus Germanicus Dacicus Pontifex Maximvs Tribvnicia Potestas Consul V Pater Partriae
And based on the above, we know this would mean:
Emperor Caesar son of Nervae, Trajan Augustus, who defeated the Germans and Dacians. A Great Priest, Tribune of the people, Consul for the 5th time, and Father of the fatherland/country.
(The defeat of Parthians was not included yet I assume because that came only later in AD113. That would tell us roughly that the coin was made before that. Serving the 5th year of consulship would mean that it was made later than 103AD. Hence by my own deducement, the coin was made between AD103 and AD113. Unless there are legend mistakes and discounting the fact that this coin is fake to begin with, I think my deducement is correct.)
What an interesting study today. Any mistakes, if any, are all mine.
