1 Solidus - Witigis / In the name of Justinian I, 527-565 Star to the left

Witigis seized the Ostrogothic throne in 536 by deposing Theodahad — a king so unpopular that his own men killed him on the road. The timing was catastrophic: Justinian's general Belisarius had already landed in Italy, and the Byzantine reconquest was underway. These solidi, struck in Witigis's name but bearing Justinian's imperial title, reflect the political fiction Ostrogothic kings maintained throughout their Italian tenure — coining in gold required the emperor's nominal sanction, a convention the Goths never broke even as they fought Byzantium directly.

The star left of the bust is the distinguishing mark separating this emission from closely related issues, and Metlich's placement of this type on page 29 without a discrete catalogue number reflects how contested the attribution sequence remains.