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1 Tremissis In the name of Anastasius I, Round shoulder, hanging tassels

Issuer Uncertain Germanic tribes
Year 491-600
Type Standard circulation coin
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Obverse description Right-facing bust of Emperor Anastasius I, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed, rendered in the late antique imperial tradition. The effigy displays rounded shoulders with hanging tassels at the shoulder drapery, a characteristic feature of this Germanic imitative series. The bust is set within a beaded border and encircled by a Latin legend. The style reflects the provincial, barbarian-workshop execution typical of post-Roman Germanic tremissis imitations, with some simplification of facial and garment detail relative to official Byzantine prototypes.
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Reverse script Latin
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Germanic tremisses struck in the name of Anastasius I present one of the more persistent attribution puzzles in early medieval numismatics. The practice of barbarian rulers issuing gold coinage under Byzantine imperial names was partly diplomatic fiction, partly practical necessity — Byzantine solidus-fractions circulated as the dominant trade currency across post-Roman Europe, and local imitations needed to pass. The "round shoulder, hanging tassels" die grouping is a physical typology used to cluster what are likely several distinct tribal mints operating at different points across a wide century-long bracket.

Anastasius died in 518, yet imitations in his name continued well into the sixth century and beyond. At 1.47g this piece sits toward the lighter end of acceptable tremissis weight — gradual debasement in both weight and fineness is well documented across this class.

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