Trajan AD 98-117 Silver Denarius Alim Ital Charity Rome

Trajan Silver Denarius 98-117AD Alimentia Italiae, Rome mint

19mm, 3.18g

This reverse type commemorates the formation of Trajan’s charity to look after orphaned children.

Trajan AD 98-117

Trajan was born in Spain around AD 53. Trajan had a military career as a young man and as a legionary commander in AD 88/89 he was involved in the suppression of a revolt in Upper Germany. In AD 91 he held his first consulship before being adopted as heir to Nerva in AD 97. The next year he was crowned emperor.
Trajan’s reign is one of military glory and conquest. He did not conceal his ambition to emulate Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. One of Trajan’s main conquests was the Kingdom of Dacia in AD 107. This achievement was commemorated by the erection of Trajan’s column in Rome. Trajan later went on to conquer Arabia although his main ambition was to destroy Rome’s great rival the Parthian Kingdom in Persia. However, his failing health and a Jewish revolt forced him to abandon this project and Trajan died on his way back to Rome in AD 117.
Trajan issued coinage on a vast scale commemorating not only his military victories but also other achievements. It was during Trajan’s reign that coinage issued prior to Nero was demonetized and melted down. In doing so a series of restoration coins were produced reviving some of the principal Republican denarius types as well as aurei which commemorate certain rulers in Rome’s past.