Æ29 - Trajan Decius ϹΑΜΙΩΝ

Samos issued bronze coinage under Roman administration as part of the Milesian conventus, the judicial circuit through which Roman governors managed the Greek cities of Ionia. Trajan Decius, who seized power after the death of Philip I in battle, reigned barely two years before dying at Abritus in 251 — the first Roman emperor killed in battle against a foreign enemy. Provincial mints across the Greek east produced coinage throughout his short reign, and Samian issues from this period are correspondingly scarce.