Roman Sestertius Coins

Inv. No.: c090
Date: A.D. 103-111.
Weight: 22.86g
 
Obv.: Trajan, laureate.
IMP.CAES.NERVAE TRAIANO AVG.GER.DAC.P.M.

Rev.: Trajan, seated on platform; officer seated below him; on steps, man in toga; in background, statue of Liberalitas and tripod.
CONGIARIVM TERTIVM S.C.

The reverse celebrates Trajan’s “third largess”. Emperors came to rely more and more on the distribution of money or food to the populace, as a means of winning support for their rule. Consequently, Liberalitas became more and more pre-eminent as an imperial virtue. Her figure appears in distribution scenes on coins from Nero onwards.

Comparanda:
RIC, Trajan 469.