AV Aureus Trajan (98-117)

Obverse: IMP CAES NER TRAIAN OPTIM AVG GERM DAC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right
Reverse: PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P S P Q R, radiate and draped bust of Sol to right
 
RARE
 
In 114 AD Trajan invaded Armenia and annexed it as a Roman province. In 115, Trajan also annexed Northern Mesopotamia, and later the same year he captured the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. Following the conquest of Ctesiphon, Trajan accepted the title ‘Parthicus’ in 115-116, which features as the reverse legend on this type of coin; the bust of Sol, who rises in the East, may symbolise Roman dominance over the region.