116 AD., Trajan, Rome mint struck for circulation in the East, countermarked at Antioch, Syria, As, RIC 644 var.

Trajan, Rome mint struck for circulation in the East of the Roman Empire, 116 AD., countermarked at Antioch, Syria, applied before 132-135 AD.,
As (ø 23-24 mm / 7,13 g), brass ("orichalcum"), axes coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 180°),
Obv.: [IMP CAES NER TRAI]ANO OPT[IMO AVG GERM] , his radiate bust facing right, countermark before, rectangular punch: laurel branch with four leaves, 4,5 x 6 mm (Howgego 378).
Rev.: [DAC PARTHICO P M TR POT XX COS VI PP] / S C , around and in wreath.
RIC II, p. 290, no. 644 var. (countermark, type common) ; Coh. 122 var. (same) ; BMC 1090 var. (same) ; CBN 956 var. (same) ; McAlee 509 .
for countermark: Howgego p. 177, 378 (69 pieces listed) (associated with Apollo at Antioch, Syria. According to Howgego, the laurel branch countermark appears as an undertype on a Bar Kochba bronze, indicating that it was applied prior to 132-135 AD.).

This unusual issue struck at the end of 115 is typically attributed to an eastern mint, usually Antioch. The issue consisted of the as and semis, both with radiate busts, and both struck on orichalcum flans. Metallurgical tests have shown that the orichalcum used is indistinguishable from the orichalcum used for Roman sestertii and dupondii and quite different from the orichalcum used for some provincial issues. This fact, along with the style of the portraiture and legend, and the die axis of 6:00 versus the normal 12:00 die axis for the Antioch mint, suggests that this issue was minted at Rome and shipped to Syria. See the two articles by Metcalf in ANSMN 20 (1975) and 22 (1977), and Carradice and Cowell's article in Num. Chron. (1987).