1 Solidus - Athalaric / In the name of Justin I, 518-527 Star to the left

Athalaric became king of the Ostrogoths in 526 at roughly ten years old, following the death of his grandfather Theoderic the Great. The coin was struck in the final months of Justin I's reign in Constantinople — a deliberate act of political alignment, as the Ostrogothic court under regent Amalasuntha was attempting to stabilize relations with the eastern empire after years of theological friction under Theoderic. Issuing solidi in the emperor's name was the standard Ostrogothic acknowledgment that the Western kingdom operated, at least nominally, within the Roman imperial framework.

The star variety is catalogued distinctly across Metlich and Demo precisely because such small differentiating marks help sequence the Ravenna mint's output during this compressed transitional window.