Fiumicino, 1 May 2024 – Una “secret” story that deserves to be known: in breaking the news that they were rthe planking of the Roman ships was completed, at the Ship Museum in Fiumicino, restoring the wood to the exact conditions at the time of their use in ancient Rome, the Salvo D’Acquisto Social Pharmacy wants to let citizens know something unique, that not everyone knows.
What are we talking about? Of the fact that the community owns a sestertius, beaten at the time of Emperor Trajan: “One of the best preserved in the world – explains Dr. Tortorici -, on which it is depicted on the front side the effigy of Emperor Trajan and in the back the hexagonal basin of the port of Trajan”.
But how was the sestertius purchased? “The story of the purchase begins in 2017 – says Tortorici – when a very dear friend of mine, the then councilor Paolo Calicchio and expert on the subject, he told meor that this sestertius was up for auction and that, unfortunately, the city of Fiumicino would never have been able to enjoy it. Therefore, not wanting this to happen, considering the deep connection that the currency has with the roots of our territory, I decided to take action together with him to succeed in the undertaking. I had, as administrator of the municipal pharmacies of Fiumicino, made plexiglass money boxes to raise the funds and with a great response from the community we succeeded: we have raised 20 thousand euros and Trajan’s sestertius returned to Fiumicino!”
The sesterzio then reached the community thanks also to the valuable journalistic activity of Fabrizio Monaco and Fernanda De Nitto and the administrative activity carried out by the President of the Pro Loco of Fiumicino Pino Larango.
“Being a creader of Roman history, numismatics and archaeology recognized by auction houses, – explains Paolo Calicchio – I receive paper catalogs from all over the world and that is where I came to know about this particular coin. For me it was even more important because it shows, even if schematized, a part of Fiumicino: it’s a sort of postcard of the time that tells a piece of ancient history”.
“I then decided to talk about it with Marco – continues Calicchio – who immediately proved enthusiastic about a possible purchase, if we had joined forces. We involved a lot of people and it was wonderful to see how many of them wanted to obtain the sestertius: for the first time in the history of numismatics and archeology an ancient coin was purchased by the people, becoming its owner. Now the coin, which has become the property of the Pro Loco of Fiumicino, is visible in the Ship Museum, but it is available to the community: it has been exhibited in many exhibitions, it has been brought to schools to make it known to children too. This is also how culture is created: promoting historical and cultural awareness. And with Trajan’s sestertius we want to carry forward this philosophy.”
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