TRAJAN DECIUS
AD 249-251
AR Antoninianus. 3.02g, 22.6mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 249-250
REF: RIC 12b; Cohen 16
OBVERSE: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: DACIA, Dacia standing left holding staff topped with a wolf-like head (Draco).
 
Provenance:
Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection
Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli (1914-2001) was born in Romania.  During World War II, she and her husband Vladimir were sent by the Gestapo to Buchenwald concentration camp. They survived their 3-year imprisonment and when the war was over, moved to Italy, where they worked in the numismatic trade. In 1951, they moved to the United States, where their knowledge and passion for numismatics led to them becoming curators of National Numismatics Collection at the Smithsonian. Together, they were also authors of numerous important reference works and curated an excellent personal collection of coins.
 
Notes:  
Toned. well-centered and detailed. 
This distinctive type honours the province of Dacia, a rich territory in the Carpathian mountains conquered over a century earlier by Emperor Trajan, whose name Decius took and whose glorious rule he sought to imitate.  The personification of Dacia on this coin holds a 'draco', a tall staff surmounted by a hollow metal wolf's head.  The staff was traditionally employed by Dacian and Skythian warriors, and it was said to have made a menacing howl when the wind passed through the wolf's head.
 
Historical Notes:
Trajan Decius was a prominent senator who came to power in a revolt against the rule of Philip the Arab.  Upon his ascension, he adopted the name of the revered 2nd century emperor Trajan and took measures to revive a number of old Roman traditions and institutions.  Despite his brief reign, Decius's coinage was relatively varied and interesting, surviving today in large numbers.  His downfall about came at the Battle of Abritus in June 251, against an army of invading Goths.  When his son Herennius Etruscus fell early in the battle, Decius is said to have stoically proclaimed, "Let no one mourn; the death of one soldier is not a great loss to the republic."  Decius himself was soon thereafter killed and his army destroyed.  He has the the unfortunate distinction of being the first Roman Emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy.