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1 Siliqua in the name of Valens
| Issuer | Uncertain barbarous city |
|---|---|
| Year | 377-383 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 18.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Emperor Valens facing right, rendered in a somewhat barbarous style typical of unofficial late Roman silver coinage. The effigy displays a prominent pearl diadem across the brow, with paludamentum fastened at the shoulder and visible cuirass detailing beneath. The surrounding Latin legend, though crudely engraved and partially garbled, imitates the standard imperial titulature. The portrait, while derivative of official Valentinianic workshop models, exhibits the irregular engraving characteristic of a provincial or barbarous imitative mint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Following the catastrophic Roman defeat at Adrianople in 378 — where Valens himself died on the field — imperial mint output in the western Balkans collapsed entirely. Fringe communities and semi-Romanized groups continued striking coins in his name for years afterward, unaware or indifferent to his death, producing pieces whose fabric and style betray no official mint's hand.
The RIC IX 27 comparison suggests a Danubian or Balkan origin, but attribution remains genuinely contested.