Catalog
1 Tremissis - Aripert I
| Issuer | Lombardy and Tuscany |
|---|---|
| Year | 653-661 |
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| Value | 1 Tremissis |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylized winged Victory standing facing, rendered in a highly schematic Lombard manner derived from Byzantine prototypes, holding a long staff or cross. The figure is depicted within a beaded border, with a votive or acclamatory legend disposed around the periphery. The execution is characteristic of the debased late antique artistic tradition of Lombard gold coinage. |
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| Reverse lettering | VNTORIA AIVIVITNORVI CONOR (Translation: Victoria Augustus / Constantinople — Victory of the Augustus / Constantinople) |
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| Additional information |
Aripert I came to power after the death of Rothari, whose long reign had seen the Lombards consolidate control over much of the Italian peninsula. The tremissis — one-third of a solidus — was the workhorse denomination of early medieval gold coinage, effectively inherited from late Roman and Byzantine monetary practice. Lombard rulers struck in imitation of Byzantine types precisely because Byzantine gold retained international credibility that no upstart Germanic kingdom's coinage could yet command on its own.
Aripert's reign ended with his death in 661, after which the kingdom split between his two sons, triggering a civil war that would reshape Lombard Italy within a generation.