5 Nummi

The 5 Nummi was among the smallest fractional bronzes produced under Ostrogothic administration following Odoacer's defeat in 493. Theoderic governed Italy as king while nominally acknowledging Byzantine imperial authority — a careful legal fiction that shaped how coinage was issued. The mint at Rome continued operating, producing pieces that carefully avoided overt assertion of independent sovereignty, a balancing act that held for roughly three decades.

At this denomination, actual purchasing power was minimal. These circulated among the poorest transactions in a monetary system already degraded from its late imperial peak.