Catalog
1 Denarius Circle, circle
| Issuer | Goths from Taman |
|---|---|
| Year | 275-325 |
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| Currency | Denarius (late 3rd/early 4th centuries) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Winged figure standing facing, rendered in a schematic barbaric style, with outstretched wings formed by diagonal strokes extending to either side. A circular annulet is placed to the lower left and another to the lower right of the central figure, flanking the feet. A partial degenerate legend or pseudo-inscription runs along the upper periphery of the field. The composition imitates late Roman reverse types but is strongly abstracted, consistent with Gothic imitative denarii of the Taman region. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The so-called "Goths from Taman" issues remain among the least understood barbarous coinages of the late Roman periphery. Produced somewhere in the Taman Peninsula region — the ancient Tmutarakan area bridging the Kuban steppe and the eastern Crimea — these billon pieces circulated among Gothic groups who had settled around the Cimmerian Bosporus following the great migrations of the mid-third century. The striking authority was almost certainly not a state in any formal sense, but rather a tribal or mercantile arrangement piggybacking on the prestige of Roman denominations.
The fifty-year date range reflects genuine scholarly uncertainty, not imprecision in record-keeping.