Catalog
12 Nummi
| Issuer | Carthage, Vandal City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 480-523 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 12 Nummi |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A standing figure depicted frontally, arms raised and outstretched, holding three wheat stalks in each hand, representing an allegorical or divine personage associated with agricultural abundance. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded or laurel wreath border. The style is characteristic of late antique Vandal coinage, with a schematic and somewhat crude rendering typical of post-Roman provincial hammered bronzes. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The denomination mark N XII, denoting twelve nummi, is boldly struck in large Latin characters at the center of the field, with a horizontal stroke above the numeral serving as an abbreviation mark. The legend is enclosed within a wreath border, consistent with the obverse framing. The lettering is deeply cut but irregularly aligned, characteristic of Vandal-period hammered coinage from Carthage. |
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| Additional information |
The Vandal kingdom's bronze coinage occupies an awkward administrative position — struck at Carthage under Germanic rulers who had no tradition of coin production, the denominations were borrowed wholesale from the late Roman system they had displaced after 439 AD. The 12 nummi unit reflects a deliberate attempt to maintain economic continuity with the eastern Roman monetary framework, likely to ease trade with Byzantine merchants who still dominated Mediterranean commerce.
Gaiseric's successors proved more tolerant of Roman civic infrastructure than their reputation suggests. The Carthage mint continued operating largely intact through successive Hasding kings until Belisarius ended Vandal rule in 533.