TYPE Greek Imperial, Trajan Decius (249-251 AD), silver "double" antoninianus, 5.90g DESCRIPTION . Obv: Radiate head of Trajan Decius to right, legend: IMP CMQ TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG Rev: Dacia tanding left, holding ass-tipped staff, legend: DACIA REFERENCE: cf. RIC 10b GRADING: EF / VF+, soft struck rev., light toning, some obv. luster, rare weight/denomination ORDER INFO: R2905, $125 A puzzling and officially unpublished weight/denomination, almost twice the antoninianus standard for this reign. Some research on printed and online offers yielded a a specimen of similar weight and type, auctioned in Jan. 2000 (www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/trajan_decius/i.html), and we did handle another (Dacia reverse) a couple of years ago. However, the purpose these pieces of normal style, diameter and design, yet of thick fabric - remains a mystery.