1 Aureus - Imitating Severus Alexander, 222-235

Germanic imitations of Roman aurei occupy a narrow and poorly understood corner of numismatics. These pieces were not struck for circulation in any Roman sense — they functioned as prestige objects, gift currency, or diplomatic tokens within tribal hierarchies, often produced generations after the prototype had ceased to mean anything monetarily. The Severus Alexander aureus was a common model precisely because his reign produced abundant, well-distributed gold.

Attribution to specific tribal groups remains largely impossible without hoard provenance.