TRAJAN
AD 98-117
AE23. 9.89g, 23.5mm
MINTED: SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria, Seleucia Pieria, circa AD 114-116
REF: BMC 39; RPC III 3771
OBVERSE: [ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙ] ΝЄΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟС ΑΡΙ[СΤ СЄΒ ΓЄΡΜ], laureate head right.
REVERSE: СЄΛЄΥΚЄѠΝ ΠЄΙЄΡΙΑС, the baetyl (sacred stone) of Zeus Kasios within shrine surmounted by eagle; ZЄYC / KACIOC below, Δ in right field.
 
Notes:
Blackish patina with orange earthen deposits highlighting devices.  
Interesting type.   Zeus Kasios was the syncretism of the Zeus, king of the Greek gods, and Kasios, a holy mountain near the city of Antioch (in present day Turkey), which Seleucia Pieria was the seaport of. In local tradition, Mount Kasios was the setting of a great battle between Zeus and the hundred-headed monster Typhon. This coin type depicts the shrine of Zeus Kasios, and within it a conical sacred stone, or baetyl, which might have been a meteorite. A temple dedicated to Zeus Kasios was recently discovered in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
 
Historical Notes:
Trajan was the second of the "Five Good Emperors" who ruled the Rome during the 2nd century AD. He was an excellent military commander, expanding the frontiers of the Roman Empire to its greatest extent - annexing the Nabataean kingdom, conquering the Dacians in a great war, and finally, temporarily reducing the Parthian Empire to a client state of Rome by defeating and deposing its ruler, Osroes I. Trajan was also known for his philanthropy and social programs within the empire, and his numerous public buildings and constructions (Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market, the Aqua Traiana). The Roman Senate declared him optimus princeps ("the best of rulers"), a title borne on many of his coins. He died after a reign of 19 years, and was deified by the Senate. Historians regard him as one of Rome's greatest rulers.