Catalog
20 Nummi
| Issuer | Rome, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 493-553 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Helmeted and draped bust of Roma facing right, rendered in the late antique style characteristic of Ostrogothic-period civic coinage. The effigy is enclosed within a beaded border, with the legend INVICTA ROMA distributed around the periphery of the field. The helmet is of classical form, and the portrait retains the idealized, schematic quality typical of sixth-century Roman municipal issues. The inscription affirms the eternal and unconquered status of the city of Rome. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Rome remained under Ostrogothic administration from Theoderic's takeover in 493 until Justinian's forces under Belisarius and later Narses recaptured the city in 552–553, and coinage struck in the city during this period occupies an awkward historiographical position — technically Gothic in authority, yet administratively Roman in every practical sense. The Ostrogoths deliberately maintained Roman civic institutions, the Senate, and existing mint operations as instruments of legitimacy.
The conflicting reference attributions across MEC, BMC, and Metlich reflect genuine scholarly disagreement about whether specific issues within this span originate under Gothic or transitional Byzantine oversight.