Theoderic the Great struck coinage in the name of the reigning Eastern emperor as a deliberate assertion of legitimacy — he ruled Italy as the emperor's surrogate, at least in theory, and the coinage reflected that careful fiction. These Milan-struck half siliquae belong to the decade before relations with Constantinople began to sour, when Theoderic was still Anastasius's man in the west. The Milan mint had been administratively significant since Diocletian's reorganization and remained active under Ostrogothic control.
At 0.73g, these pieces circulated at roughly half the weight of a standard siliqua, filling a genuine transactional gap in daily silver exchange.
Theoderic the Great struck coinage in the name of the reigning Eastern emperor as a deliberate assertion of legitimacy — he ruled Italy as the emperor's surrogate, at least in theory, and the coinage reflected that careful fiction. These Milan-struck half siliquae belong to the decade before relations with Constantinople began to sour, when Theoderic was still Anastasius's man in the west. The Milan mint had been administratively significant since Diocletian's reorganization and remained active under Ostrogothic control.
At 0.73g, these pieces circulated at roughly half the weight of a standard siliqua, filling a genuine transactional gap in daily silver exchange.