Wolf and Twins, not the type you usually see though

After the fall of the empire in the west, the Germanic tribe of the Ostrogoths attempted to keep the ancient Roman flame alive by preserving many of its institutions and its culture. This extended to their coinage. The obverse celebrates the personification of Roma, with the legend "Invicta Roma", meaning "Unconquerable Rome" (ironic considering the two sacks of the city, and the fall of the empire at Ravenna, all in the previous century). The reverse depicts the ancient legend of the she-wolf sucking Romulus and Remus, a scene familiar to many of us that collect ancients, especially Roman coins.
The coin has obviously seen better days, but for me its a welcome filler, as better examples of this rare post-Roman can run in the hundreds of dollars. My example is still quite a bit of change for me right now, so I have it reserved and will most likely be mine sometime next month.

Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy
AE Follis (40 nummi)
Obv: INVICT-A ROMA, Roma helmeted, facing right
Rev: She-wolf standing left, suckling Romulus and Remus, XL above, X dot X in ex
Rome mint (struck during Theodoric the Great's reign: 493-526 AD)
Ref: MIB 71b, BMC 30-31

(seller's photos)

 

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Definitely an interesting coin. Nice addition VK.

 

Thanks Mat. This is one coin I cannot wait for!

 

Very interesting addition.

 

Very nice VK, i like it..

 

Glad you all like it

 

Great Addition VK!

 

Thats cool

 

Isnt it nice getting those kind? So far 2013 has been a good year for me in that respect.


Will it end with an otho? Only time will tell

 

Interesting VK. A nice addition for you.

 

Man I was gonna buy that but as soon as I got the email with the new listing it was on reserve. Now how did I know it was you!

You got good taste my friend. A bit pricey but cool none the less.

 

I try to jump on every opportunity to acquire these

Thanks for commenting guys!

 

Great new coin, Jango ... I love those suckling twins/wolf coins (and that certainly looks like a nice, big, fat baby!!) ... what is its size?

Congrats!!

 

Thanks steve! Its a follis so full size it would have been around 27-28 mm wide, but I suspect this one due to wear would be a little less than that.

 

Great VK! Another Ostrogoth. In a sense they were right. Rome was indeed unconquerable if you consider the effect Roman culture had on Western civilization.

On the other hand, there's something sad about the Ostrogoths fanning the dying embers of a once-great empire. All things must pass.

 

Welcome back John Anthony! Long time no see here on CoinTalk. Did you take the Summer off? Or just trying to throttle back on the internet addiction? Heck, I should take a three month break from the keyboard.

 

Hey brother Race - I took the summer off. Comeback thread here...

http://www.cointalk.com/threads/hey-friends-im-back.235418/

Good to see you're still around!

 

Maybe my favorite ancient coin I own. I got mine years ago as part of a Byzantine group lot. I recognized it immediately because I had just saw a pic of one in Byzantine Coins.

Cool addition. This one is a poster child for how the story is even cooler than the coin.

Btw, I disagree with the date. Most have this before Theodoric, issued under the Senate while ruled by the Ostrogoths.

You also didn't go into what might be the coolest story aboit this coin. At the time the roman world only had gold and tiny little nummi. Rome, down to maybe only 30k citizens and ruled by german barbarians, nevertheless had the wisdom and foresight to create a new denomination of 40 nummi. It was she, not Constantinople, who would give the world the new denomination that would serve as a world standard for centuries to come.

 

Huh? ... that's very interesting => I'm pretty sure that the only "nummi" coin I have is this 12 nummi coin? (maybe I have a few others, but don't know that they're nummi's?)




medoraman => this coin is from 618-628 AD ... were "12" nummi coins created before or after the 40 nummi coins?

 

A nummi was the base denomination. AE4 lrb's are a nummi. With Anastasius' coinage reform, they made numerous denominations, but the key coin being the forty, or M.