Carthage operated as a semi-autonomous mint under Byzantine administration, and its output consistently diverged from Constantinople's conventions in ways that still puzzle specialists. The Є II mark on this piece denotes the second officina at Carthage — a mint that Justinian re-established after the Vandal reconquest of 533–534, meaning any example predating that campaign belongs to a very narrow production window tied directly to the logistics of Belisarius's North African expedition.
The 5 nummi denomination saw almost no use in eastern mints by this period. Carthage kept striking them long after Constantinople had effectively abandoned the denomination in everyday accounting.
Carthage operated as a semi-autonomous mint under Byzantine administration, and its output consistently diverged from Constantinople's conventions in ways that still puzzle specialists. The Є II mark on this piece denotes the second officina at Carthage — a mint that Justinian re-established after the Vandal reconquest of 533–534, meaning any example predating that campaign belongs to a very narrow production window tied directly to the logistics of Belisarius's North African expedition.
The 5 nummi denomination saw almost no use in eastern mints by this period. Carthage kept striking them long after Constantinople had effectively abandoned the denomination in everyday accounting.