Catalog
Tremissis - Leovigildo Cordoba
| Issuer | Visigothic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 575-586 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of King Leovigild in a highly stylized, schematic manner characteristic of Visigothic coinage, depicting the monarch with a beaded crown surmounted by a cross, large frontal eyes rendered in low relief, and a segmented necklace or collar below the chin. The bust occupies the central field and is surrounded by a legend reading +LEOVIGILDVSREX distributed around the periphery. The overall artistic treatment reflects the late antique tradition adapted into the Visigothic idiom, with flat, linear modeling of facial features. The flan is irregular and slightly ragged at the edges, as is typical of hammered gold coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | +LEOVIGILDVSREX |
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| Additional information |
Leovigild's monetary reform of the 570s broke decisively from the practice of striking coins in the name of the reigning Byzantine emperor — a convention Visigothic mints had maintained for decades as a gesture of nominal imperial deference. This tremissis, struck at Córdoba, belongs to that transition: Leovigild began placing his own name and image on the coinage, asserting an independent royal authority that no Visigothic king had so explicitly claimed before him. Córdoba was among his most strategically prized mints, recovered from the Byzantines during his southern campaigns in the 570s.