Catalog
1 Solidus - Athalaric / In the name of Justin I, 518-527 Star to the right
| Issuer | Ostrogothic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 526-527 |
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| Currency | Tremissis (490-553) |
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| Obverse description | Frontal helmeted and cuirassed bust of the Byzantine emperor Justin I, pearl-diademed, depicted in three-quarter view with a spear carried over the right shoulder. The effigy is rendered in late antique style with fine engraving detail on the cuirass and helmet. The bust is surrounded by a beaded border and a continuous Latin legend. The entire composition follows the established Byzantine imperial portrait convention adopted by the Ostrogothic rulers for their gold coinage struck in the emperor's name. |
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| Obverse lettering | D N IVSTI - NVS PP AVC (Translation: Dominus Noster Justinus Perpetuus Augustus / Our Lord, Justin, Perpetual Augustus) |
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| Additional information |
Athalaric became king of the Ostrogoths in 526 at roughly ten years old, under the regency of his mother Amalasuntha, following the death of Theoderic the Great. The decision to continue striking gold coinage in the name of the reigning Eastern emperor — here Justin I, dead within months of this issue — was not mere deference. It was a deliberate political signal, maintaining the legal fiction that Ostrogothic Italy operated within the imperial framework rather than against it.
The star accessory mark distinguishes this emission within Metlich's sequence and corresponds to the final months of Justin I's reign, making the issue transitional by definition.