351-352 AD., Decentius Caesar, Aquileia mint, Æ2-3, RIC 178 var.

Decentius Caesar, Aquileia mint, officina 2, 351-352 AD.,
Æ2-3 (ø 18,5-19,5 mm / 3,30 g), bronze, axis about coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 200°),
Obv.: D N DECENTI - VS FORT CA[ES] , his bare-headed draped and cuirassed bust r. - son buste drapé et cuirassé à droite, tête nue.
Rev.: VIRTVS EXERCITVM / AQ S , emperor, bare-headed and in military dress, standing left, holding globe and scepter - empereur debout a gauche tenant un globe et une sceptre, AQ S à l’exergue.
unlisted ; cf. RIC VIII, p. 331, no. 178 (R) (new legend variety, RIC reverse legend VIRTVS EXERCITVS) ; Bastien 359 var. (same) (3 specimens listed) ; cf. Paolucci & Zub 576 (R3) ; cf. LRBC 918 ; www.nummus-bible-database.com - .

partly cleaned

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Curtis Clay on http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=114848 at 05:10:36 pm :

“Apparently only three other specimens are known, two of them with a clear S at the end of EXERCITVS.
Bastien 359, pl. XI, Milan. Exergue damaged, but reading [AQ]S seems probable. Last letter of EX - ERCITVS off flan, so EX - ERCITV[M] can't be excluded. From different dies than yours.
Bastien Supplement 359a, pl. S V, BM. Mintmark mostly off flan, read AQP, but AQS looks more likely. ERCITVS on right fully clear. From different dies than both yours and the Milan coin.
Ditto 359b, same pl. S V, Auctiones 10, 1979, 799. Mintmark clearly [A]QT. ERCITVS on right fully clear.
So your EX - ERCITVM indeed appears to be a new legend variety, unless that is the correct reading of the Milan specimen too!“