TRAJAN DECIUS
AD 249-251
AR Antoninianus. 4.58g, 23.2mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 249-250
REF: RIC 11
OBVERSE: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: ADVENTVS AVG, Trajan Decius, in military attire, on horse prancing left, raising right hand and holding short sceptre in left hand.
 
Notes:  
Well-centered with good details.  Light porosity and minor edge cracks.
 
Adventus coinage commemorated the entrance of an emperor into a city.  In this instance, Trajan Decius was acclaimed emperor by his troops while in the province of Moesia, against the legitimate emperor, Philip I.  After Philip was killed at the Battle of Verona fighting Decius's troops in the summer of 249, Decius was formerly recognized by the Roman Senate.  This issue celebrated Decius's entrance into the city of Rome as the new emperor.
 
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.