1 Aureus - Imitating Caracalla, 198-217

Barbarous imitations of Roman aurei circulated widely beyond the Rhine frontier during the third and fourth centuries, produced by Germanic groups who had absorbed enough Roman monetary convention to replicate the form while lacking the die-cutting infrastructure to match the execution. These pieces were not currency in any Roman administrative sense — they functioned as prestige objects, gift exchange tokens, and possibly tribute payments moving laterally between tribal elites rather than vertically through any tax system.

Caracalla's aurei were among the most copied Roman gold types north of the frontier, likely because his reign saw substantial donative payments to Germanic foederati.