Catalog
1 Denarius Circle, T
| Issuer | Goths from Taman |
|---|---|
| Year | 275-325 |
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| Composition | Billon |
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| Obverse description | Crude, stylized barbarian imitation of a radiate imperial bust facing right, rendered in a provincial Germanic artistic style. The head is surrounded by short radiate lines imitating a radiate crown, with schematized facial features deeply struck into the billon flan. The overall execution is characteristic of Gothic imitative coinage produced in the Taman peninsula region during the late 3rd to early 4th century. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Goths along the Taman Peninsula — the narrow strip connecting Crimea to the Kuban steppe — occupied a commercial crossroads between the late Bosporan Kingdom and Black Sea trade networks. Their imitative billon coinage of this period drew directly from Roman denarius prototypes circulating in the region, a practical response to the near-collapse of Roman monetary supply during the Crisis of the Third Century. Rome's own denarius had been debased so aggressively by the 270s that provincial and barbarian imitations became functionally interchangeable with official issues.