Herennius Etruscus, as Caesar, AD 249-251, Tetradrachm

Herennius Etruscus, Tetradrachm, AR, as Caesar AD 249–251, Antioch, ca. AD 250–251, 8.90 g, 26 mm. Greek legend ΕΡΕΝΝ ΕΤΡΟΥ ΜΕ ΚΥ ΔΕΚΙΟϹ ΚΕϹΑΡ; bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right. Reverse with ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ; eagle standing facing, head left, wings spread, wreath in beak; S C between legs. Struck at Antioch on the broad billon fabric characteristic of the series, with Greek legends and local portrait style. RPC IX 1651.

Herennius Etruscus, elder son of Trajan Decius, was named Caesar during his father’s reign and briefly elevated to Augustus in AD 251 before both died at the Battle of Abrittus. Antioch, the principal mint of Roman Syria, issued billon tetradrachms with Greek legends as the dominant silver currency of the eastern provinces during this period. The eagle reverse with S C and the formula ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞΟΥϹΙΑϹ are standard elements of the mid-third-century Antiochene series, reflecting a long-standing provincial silver tradition distinct from western denarii and antoniniani.