1 Denarius - Imitating Augustus, 27BC-14AD

Germanic imitations of Roman silver coinage were not crude forgeries but functional currency produced by tribes operating outside Roman monetary infrastructure. Augustus-type denarii were copied well into the second and third centuries precisely because the prototypes had circulated so heavily in frontier zones that the imagery itself became synonymous with value. The weight here — notably below the contemporary Roman standard — reflects neither error nor debasement policy but the practical reality of tribes working from worn source coins and without access to Roman assay controls.