These Visigothic siliquae struck in Honorius's name at Narbonne represent a fiscal and political calculation: the Visigoths, settled in Aquitaine by treaty in 418, needed coinage that Roman merchants and tax administrators would accept without hesitation. Issuing under a living Western emperor's name was the pragmatic solution. The arrangement persisted well past Honorius's death in 423, with his name retained on dies long after it carried any dynastic relevance.
RIC X 3703 is distinguished from contemporary imperial mint products by characteristically thin, irregular flans — a consequence of provincial silver supply constraints at Narbonne rather than any deliberate debasement.
These Visigothic siliquae struck in Honorius's name at Narbonne represent a fiscal and political calculation: the Visigoths, settled in Aquitaine by treaty in 418, needed coinage that Roman merchants and tax administrators would accept without hesitation. Issuing under a living Western emperor's name was the pragmatic solution. The arrangement persisted well past Honorius's death in 423, with his name retained on dies long after it carried any dynastic relevance.
RIC X 3703 is distinguished from contemporary imperial mint products by characteristically thin, irregular flans — a consequence of provincial silver supply constraints at Narbonne rather than any deliberate debasement.