Catalog
Antoninianus - Claudius II Gothicus CONSECRATIO; Barbarous imitation
| Issuer | Uncertain barbarous mint |
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| Year | |
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| Composition | Copper |
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| Obverse description | Crude radiate head of the deified Claudius II Gothicus facing right, rendered in a barbarous style with schematic, angular features characteristic of unofficial imitative coinage. The radiate crown is clumsily executed, with splayed rays visible above the head. A peripheral legend in debased Latin surrounds the effigy, the lettering largely illegible and composed of pseudo-epigraphic imitations of the imperial titulature. The flan is small, irregular, and poorly centred, consistent with barbarous production. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Barbarous imitations of Claudius II's CONSECRATIO issues flooded the northwestern provinces after his death in 270 AD, produced by unofficial mints — likely in Britain and northern Gaul — to plug a catastrophic coinage shortage. The official series itself was extraordinary in scale: the Roman mints struck consecratio types in such enormous quantities to honor the deified Claudius that they effectively invited copying, providing imitators with a widely recognized and politically safe prototype.
At 0.81g, this piece sits well below even the debased official antoniniani of the period, suggesting multiple generations of reduction as imitators copied copies.