1/4 Siliqua In the name of Justin II, Closed staurogram without dot below

The Lombards entered Italy in 568 under Alboin, displacing Byzantine authority across much of the peninsula yet initially lacking the administrative infrastructure — or perhaps the ambition — to strike coins in their own names. Issuing fractions in the name of the reigning Eastern emperor was the practical solution, conferring a veneer of legitimacy on a kingdom that Rome had never invited. Justin II, whose actual reign ended in 578, remained the named authority on Lombard silver for well over a century after his death.

The closed staurogram variant without dot below is the detail that places this piece within the typological sequence established by MEC I.