Arcadius received the title of Augustus in January 383, aged around five or six, when his father Theodosius I elevated him as co-emperor to secure dynastic succession. The Thessalonica mint was among the most active in the eastern provinces during this period, operating under intense pressure to supply the Balkans — a region still destabilized following the Gothic catastrophe at Adrianople in 378. RIC IX 45a is well-documented across multiple die pairings, and LRBC 1847 places it firmly within the mid-to-late phase of the series before the denomination's weight standard began to slip appreciably toward 390.
Arcadius received the title of Augustus in January 383, aged around five or six, when his father Theodosius I elevated him as co-emperor to secure dynastic succession. The Thessalonica mint was among the most active in the eastern provinces during this period, operating under intense pressure to supply the Balkans — a region still destabilized following the Gothic catastrophe at Adrianople in 378. RIC IX 45a is well-documented across multiple die pairings, and LRBC 1847 places it firmly within the mid-to-late phase of the series before the denomination's weight standard began to slip appreciably toward 390.