Italy adds to its minigold Roman Emperors series with one of the best of them – Trajan

A new series from the Italian Mint IPZS that debuted last year, Serie Imperatori Romani (‘Roman Emperors Series’) are 3 gram minigold coins featuring some of the more well known of Ancient Rome’s leaders. The 2017 coin showcased Hadrian and 2018 sees one of the famous ‘five good emperors’, Trajan. At 13.92 mm in diameter, these are relatively small given that gold coins of only 0.5g often match that. We made the point last year that CIT’s superb Big Gold Minting technique could be employed to double that diameter, but it’s a proprietary technology so not likely to happen.

The portrait side of the coin has a nice profile of Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 A.D. Around it sits the inscription ‘REPVBBLICA ITALIANA’. The other side shows a view of the triumphal arch of Trajan in Beneventum, erected by resolution of the Roman Senate at the junction of via Appia and via Traiana, on a route connecting Rome to the port of Brindisi. As attested by the inscription on the attic, the arch was completed in 114 A.D. Inside the arch is the letter R, the Mint of Rome mintmark. The denomination of 10 EURO and the 2018 date are inscribed on this face. The name ‘TRAIANVS’ sits at the bottom, under which in a smaller font is the name of the designer ‘MOMONI’.

Cool little coins, they sell for €160.00 and have a mintage of 1,500 pieces. This represents a €15.00 decrease in price compared to last years coin and the drop in mintage from 4,000 is a hefty one. Available now.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION €10 Euro
COMPOSITION 0.900 gold
WEIGHT 3.0 grams
DIAMETER 13.85 mm
FINISH Proof
MODIFICATIONS None
MINTAGE 1,500
BOX / COA TBC / Yes