10 Nummi - Justinian I Perugia, Bust Left

Perugia — ancient Perusia — was recovered from Ostrogothic control during the grinding Italian campaigns of the Gothic War, a conflict that by 552 had already consumed nearly two decades and devastated the peninsula's population and infrastructure. The mint operating there under Byzantine authority was one of several small Italian facilities struck into service as Justinian's administration scrambled to assert fiscal presence in newly won territory. These issues are rare precisely because the mint's operational window was narrow and the political situation unstable enough to interrupt production without notice.