CARIA. Tabae. Trajan, 98-117. Diassarion (Bronze, 51 mm, 13.44 g, 1 h), a contemporary cast imitation. ΑΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟС ΑΡΙ ΓЄΡ ΔΑ Laureate head of Trajan to right, with slight drapery on his left shoulder. Rev. [ΤΑ]ΒΗ-[Ν]ΩΝ Demeter standing front, holding scepter in her left hand and bunch of grapes and two corn ears in her right. Cf. RPC III 2288 (for prototype). A curious and interesting item. Scrape on the obverse and with some minor breaks in patina on the edge, otherwise, good fine.

It is unclear what this cast imitation of a diassarion of Trajan from Tabae was made for, but it may well be a contemporary forgery since we know that the profit poleis made from issuing overvalued bronze coins was considerable and an important revenue in the local budgets. Alternatively, it could have been produced as an ad hoc emergency issue to deal with a shortage in coin supply. The large casting sprue still attached to the coin was supposed to be chiseled off post production, but the coin must either have been lost by accident in the production process, or have been thrown away for an unknown reason (perhaps because the casting quality was deemed inadequate?)