Follis - Constantius II GLORIA EXERCITVS, Barbarous imitation

Barbarous imitations of the GLORIA EXERCITVS type flooded the northwestern provinces during the 340s, filling a genuine shortage of small bronze coinage as the official mints struggled to supply frontier regions. These pieces were almost certainly struck locally — likely in Britain or northern Gaul — by unofficial workshops that copied official dies with decreasing fidelity across successive generations. RIC VIII 108 anchors the prototype to the Thessalonica mint, making this particular imitation's geographic distance from its model all the more telling.

The 14 mm diameter places it among the smaller, later imitations, consistent with the progressive fabric degradation seen as the GLORIA EXERCITVS type aged into the Constans-Constantius II coregency period.