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Trajan; 98-117 AD, Rome, 114-5 AD, Denarius, 3.25g. MIR-425v (139 spec.), RIC-292, BMC-452, C-558 (4 Fr.). Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P Laureate, draped bust r., seen from side. Rx: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI The Column of Trajan, surmounted by a statue of the emperor and resting on a two-tiered base; spirals on the column indicate the famous relief band narrating the events of Trajan's two Dacian wars that is still in place today; the statue on top of the column stands l. extending r. hand and holding spear in l.; the lower tier of the base has a door in the center; two sculptures of eagles, finally, stand on the upper tier of the base, which is also decorated with a garland. Trajan's column, completed during his sixth consulate about eight years after his final conquests over the Dacian's under their king Decebalus in AD 106, was an inspiring monument located in Trajan's forum in Rome. A flank of the Quirinal Hill had to be excavated to a height of 120 feet to make room for the forum, and it appears that originally the column was simply a marker of the depth of excavation that was required, the notable frieze being a mere afterthought. The column itself consists of seventeen marble drums, each over four feet tall, overlaid with a frieze approximately three feet wide and 656 feet long spiraling diagonally twenty-three times around the shaft from its base to its summit. The action of the frieze, which is continuous and is divided by conventional uprights such as a tree, a wall or a standing figure, shows 165 episodes of the campaign, and includes more than 2500 human figures. It chronicles Trajan's campaigns in Dacia, and is divided in half, the first representing the First Dacian War of AD 101-102, the latter the Second Dacian War of AD 105-106. Surmounting the whole structure was a statue of the emperor, which disappeared during the Middle Ages but which was replaced in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze statue of St. Peter. In addition to providing entrance to the column, which contains an internal helical stairway to its summit, the base served as sepulcher housing the remains of Trajan and his wife, Plotina. Ex NAC 72, 16-17 May 2013, lot 638.. Virtually Mint State / Mint State