... from its time as the capital of the Vandal Kingdom (sorry if I got your hopes up if you were hoping to see something Carthaginian). Yes boys and girls I knocked another type I was after off of my list! It looks like a normal siliqua of Honorius but this type with its distinctive style was struck by the Vandals during their domination of what were before the Roman provinces of Africa Proconsularis and Mauretania Caesariensis. This was struck from approximately 440-480 AD so after Emperor Honorius himself was dead. I have no idea why; my only guess is that the Vandals didn't want to honor the contemporary Roman emperors they were constantly at war with, so they chose one (Honorius) that they hated less and was not bothering them (the whole "dead" thing), but again that's only my speculation. I know Doug has one of these so maybe you would know why, Doug? Neither do I know why they imitated Ravenna's mintmark on it (RVPS). Anyways, it also looks like a big coin but in actuality it not going to be big in hand; its close to the size of a U.S. dime. But word around the block is that it is thicker/chunkier than normal siliquae (but slightly smaller in width). This is actually in kind of better shape than typical examples, and the price for it wasn't bad either. Oh, and did I mention that this type is rare (or at least really, really scarce)? In the name of Honorius, Vandal Kingdom AR siliqua Obv: D N HONORI-VS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right Rev: VRBS [ROMA], Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory on globe and spear Mint: Carthage (RVPS in ex; struck 440-480 AD) Ref: MEC 1, 1-3; BMC Vandals 6-9 Size: 16 mm wide And the obligatory map of Vandal country: Feel free to post any Honorius, siliquae, or Vandal coins.
what a cool and interesting coin VK, I'm also curious as to why they made the coin imitating a roman coin. give the people what they're used to? the style of the bust looks very much like a coin of anastasius.
My assumption is that they copied the style coin that was familiar in the region and would be accepted easily for commerce. I second the opinion that VK's coin is better than the usual for these. Mine is more average but still is not bad since it shows enough of the Honorius and RVPS to be identifiable. I really like VK's much more complete specimen. Mine came from Stacks in 1997 so it is not exactly a junk box coin.
Great new Vandal-addition, Jango (good choice, my friend) => the coin has super eye-appeal (I'm lovin' ROMA & Victory on the reverse)
I don't know much about Vandalic imitations, but that coin seems to have an ordinate amount of detail for ANY coins of the Vandal Kingdom. Great find!
@ValiantKnight - You did get my hopes up, but I wasn't expecting Punic silver unless it had been some how Vandalized. In the spirit of your Carthage Silver thread... Silver Shekel 21 mm x 6.90 grams 264-241 BC
