Restored Republican issues of Trajan

[Joss]

Hi,

I recently bought the denarius below, Crawford 128/1, 206-200 BC. 4.01g.

This coin is interesting because it was restored by Trajan, but with the addition of DECIVS MVS on the obverse. It has been therefore speculated that the original coin was minted by a descendant of the Roman hero Publius Decius Mus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Decius_Mus_(consul_340_BC).

Second image below. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1200368

However, Crawford dismissed this hypothesis saying : "The restoration of this issue by Trajan with the added legend DECIVS MVS provides no grounds whatever for supposing that it was originally struck by someone of that name - the family was certainly extinct by this period." But I am not really convinced by this. Why would Trajan have picked specifically two 300yo coins (RRC 127/1 was also restored with the name COCLES) minted at the same time and added these names? Is it possible that the imperial mint had retained in its archives the names of the Republican moneyers and decided to add them on the restored coins (for their obvious patriotic importance)?

I am aware of Mattingly's article, but it is very old (1926): https://www.jstor.org/stable/42664137
Is there any more recent publication on the restored Republican issues of Trajan and their interpretations?

Is the hypothesis that the Republican denarius was minted by a Decius Mus really impossible?

[Joe Sermarini]

Interesting question.  I hope someone has knowledge to share.

[shanxi]

What is more likely?

that Trajan, a military emperor, puts the names of two completely unknown moneyers on his restoration coins,
or the names of two famous and admired military heroes, like Consul Decivs Mvs and Horatius Cocles?

I mean, even if descendants existed, these are the names of the heroes, not the names of descendants.

[Joss]

But why pick these two types precisely? He could have chosen any anonymous denarius and added military heroes' names, but he specifically picked two rare types that were minted at the same time. This denarius with the shield and carnyx has less than 10 obverse dies, it would have already been very scarce in circulation by the time of Trajan, but he still chose to restore it.  

[shanxi]

Maybe they selected these coins because carnyx and shield below the horses, are symbols for victories ?


And don't forget, we have the names of two heroes on the coins.
If you follow the moneyer theory, you need  two  descendants of these heroes issuing anonymous coins at the same time. I think this is very unlikely.

[Joss]

Yes, you're probably right, although it doesn't answer to all the questions.

Apparently there is a recent study about the restoration of Trajan by Holger Komnick, Die Restitutionsmünzen der frühen Kaiserzeit. Aspekte des Kaiserlegitimation (Berlin/New York), 2001.

But it is in German, and there's no copy near where I live. Has anybody read it?

Die Restitutionsmünzen der frühen Kaiserzeit

Trajan's Restoration of the Denarius RRC 343/1b*

[Akropolis]

I think I have a copy somewhere, or perhaps it was lost in our recent move.
If he is the person, I provided him with an image and description of a restored coin of Trajan that was unrecorded, per the British Museum as of 2004, for a paper he was writing.

Trajan; 98-117 AD. AR denarius (2.8 gm). Restoration of Q. Fabius Maximus. Obv: ROMA (Q) FAB MAXIMUS (......?). Laur. hd. of Apollo, r., "star" under chin, lyre before. Rev: IMP CAES TRAIAN AVG GE(R) (D)AC PP REST. Cornucopia upon thunderbolt, all within wreath. Restoring RSC Fabia 6. All coins of this series are exceedingly rare, and rarely listed for auction. When they are, they command very high prices. This coin is apparently UNIQUE, as verified by the British Museum on 17 August 2004.

I was unsuccessful in a quick search just now. I'll keep looking and let you know if I find it
PeteB

[Akropolis]

I found the paper that addressed my coin above. It is not the 2001 paper mentioned above. it is a 2007 paper by Dr. Gunnar Seelentag (Universitat Zu Koln), entitled "Bilder und Betrachter. Eine neue Rettitutionsmunze Traians." Pages 161-183.
It does not address the coin in question.
PeteB

[Joss]

Thank you anyway, I just found it here: https://tinyurl.com/y9xsg9kd