1/2 Siliqua - Athalaric / In the name of Justin I, 518-527 Ravenna

Athalaric succeeded his grandfather Theoderic the Great in 526 at roughly ten years old, with his mother Amalasuntha effectively governing as regent. This coin belongs to the final months of Justin I's reign in Constantinople — a calculated diplomatic gesture, minting in the Eastern emperor's name while Ravenna managed its own affairs. The Ostrogoths maintained this fiction of imperial legitimacy throughout their kingdom's existence, a practical arrangement that suited both courts until relations deteriorated sharply under Justinian.

The specific Ravenna attribution rests on die analysis rather than mint marks.