Ancient Roman Silver Coin of Empress Herennia Etruscilla (Wife of Emperor Trajan Decius)

Own a Silver Coin from the Empress Who Held Rome Together After Her Husband and Son Died in the Same Battle

A real silver denarius of Herennia Etruscilla — wife of Trajan Decius, regent for her surviving son Hostilian after the Gothic disaster at Abritus in AD 251, and one of the few Crisis-era empresses to briefly exercise real political authority in the chaos that followed a catastrophic military defeat. NGC certified.

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👑 Regent after the Battle of Abritus — stepping into the power vacuum when her husband Trajan Decius and son Herennius Etruscus were both killed fighting the Goths in AD 251
🏛 Reverse depicts Pudicitia, Juno, or Roman feminine virtue personifications — traditional values projected by an empress whose actual role was far from ceremonial
🤲 Struck AD 249–251 — one of the Crisis era's most obscure yet genuinely consequential empresses, her fate after Hostilian's death entirely unknown. NGC certified.

Own This Piece of History

Why This Coin Matters

Herennia Etruscilla is one of Roman history's most shadowy figures — an empress about whom almost nothing biographical survives beyond what her coins and a handful of inscriptions tell us. She was probably from an aristocratic senatorial family, which would have made her a stabilizing match for the Balkan military man Trajan Decius when he seized power in AD 249. Her coins were struck, her portrait circulated across the empire, and she held the title of Augusta — the formal acknowledgment of imperial status that meant real political weight in the Crisis era.

Her moment of genuine historical consequence came in AD 251. At the Battle of Abritus in modern Bulgaria, the Gothic king Cniva lured Trajan Decius's army into marshy terrain and destroyed it. Both Trajan Decius and his elder son Herennius Etruscus — who had been serving as co-emperor — were killed in the fighting. It was the most catastrophic Roman military defeat in a generation, the first time a reigning emperor had died in battle against a foreign enemy. The bodies were never recovered.

Into that power vacuum stepped Herennia Etruscilla. Her younger son Hostilian was proclaimed emperor, but he was too young to govern independently — and she served as his regent during the brief, unstable period that followed. It was short-lived. Hostilian died of plague within months, and Trebonianus Gallus — who had already been proclaimed co-emperor by the surviving troops — became sole ruler. What happened to Herennia after that moment is completely unknown. She vanishes from the historical record entirely. These coins, struck during her two years as Augusta, are among the only surviving evidence that she existed at all. Certified by NGC.

Perfect for:

• Collectors of Crisis of the Third Century, imperial women, and Roman silver denarii
• History lovers drawn to Herennia Etruscilla, Trajan Decius, and the Gothic Wars of the 3rd century
• Obscure empress portrait, Pudicitia type, and NGC certified Roman silver enthusiasts
• Anyone seeking a historically extraordinary piece from one of Rome's most consequential and least-known empresses

What You'll Receive

• One authentic Roman silver denarius of Herennia Etruscilla
• Denomination: AR Denarius (silver — declining silver content typical of the period)
• NGC certified for authenticity and preservation
• Struck AD 249–251 — similar to examples shown (each coin is unique)

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• Guaranteed authentic ancient coin
• Carefully sourced and verified
• 30-day return policy
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