Æ In the name of Magnentius

After Magnentius was defeated by Constantius II at the Battle of Mursa Major in 351 — one of the bloodiest engagements of the fourth century, reputedly killing some 54,000 Roman soldiers between the two sides — he fled west and killed himself in 353. Germanic groups along the Rhine frontier had been exposed to Magnentian coinage throughout his usurpation and continued striking crude imitations well after his death, with no political program behind the copies beyond a need for small exchange currency. The prototype types persisted in barbarian production for decades, the original issuer long irrelevant to the users.