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| Issuer | Uncertain Germanic tribes |
|---|---|
| Year | 568-690 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Diademed, draped, and cuirassed imperial bust facing right, rendered in the late antique style characteristic of post-Roman Germanic imitative coinage. The effigy is encircled by a degenerate, nonsensical legend composed of pseudo-Latin letterforms that are unintelligible, reflecting the decline of literacy among the issuing Germanic workshops. The portrait retains the broad stylistic conventions of late Roman siliquae prototypes, though executed with considerably reduced artistic precision. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The attribution "uncertain Germanic tribes" covers a period of intense fragmentation across former Roman territories, when multiple groups — Lombards, Visigoths, Burgundians, and smaller federates — were all producing lightweight silver fractions loosely derived from late Roman fiscal coinage. Pinning down the issuer on pieces like this remains genuinely contested among specialists, with die studies offering the most productive avenue for narrower attribution.
The staurogram form itself predates the period, rooted in early Christian abbreviation practice from the third century. Its persistence on coinage this late reflects religious signaling rather than any specific imperial continuity.