I have a very tiny coin that I think is a barbarous Tetricus with radiate. One side might be Victory with seated captive. It is 8.5 X 9.0 mm and weighs 0.38 gr. Any help in identifying this would be appreciated. Thanks.
It's difficult to assign these late stage copies to one emperor or another. The radiate crown is often the last element of the portrait that survives. I think the reverse of your coin preserves the X of PAX AVG. Pax is the most common prototype and the X seems to persist after other elements have been lost. These tiny coins are often called minimi (singular minimus) or for the tiniest, minimissimi. Most were produced in Gaul and Britain, though they turn up elsewhere in smaller numbers. The reform of Aurelian seems to have ended the production of 'barbarous radiates' on the continent not long after 275. The reformed aurelianiani never really took hold in Britain, however. The illicit mints may have continued there until about 283.
I agree it's a 270-280s barbarous radiate. It probably is meant to be Tetricus I or II, although I suppose it could very easily be Claudius II. It's pretty degraded (with an emphasis on the crown!) so might just be generic. They very often mixed and matched legends, portraits and reverses, while the smallest had no legends. They didn't follow the rules - you might have Spes holding Pax's sceptre. Sometimes they seemed to make it up from memory. Many coins are essentially mongrels. Claudius II Barbarous Radiate, 270-280s Bronze, 13-16mm. 1.90g. Radiate figure standing with globe and long sceptre. A mix-and-match deity? I don't think it's usual to have a Victory and captive reverse - they're mostly a single standing figure (Spes, Salus, Equitas etc), or sometimes an altar (copying Claudius II's CONSACRATIO posthumous issues). But I can see what you mean. These are my 'altar' imitations, which, quite frankly, you'd never identify without reference to the official issues. Claudius II? Barbarous Radiate, 270-280s Bronze, 9.59mm, 0.63g. Claudius II Barbarous Radiate, 270-280s Bronze, 9mm, 0.6g. Probus? Barbarous Radiate, 270-280s Bronze, 9mm, 0.43g.
In my experience, hoard find reports all tend to show that the smaller "barbarous radiates" are most often imitations of types of the two Tetrici, of which Pax was a very common reverse type. The work of French numismatist J. Lallemand in particular has shown that the huge range of "barbarous radiates" mostly stem from quite a small group of official types. SC
I have something similar: Imitation Roman AE antoninianus 0.86 g, 13.2 mm Obv: Nonsensical inscription, radiate bust, right Rev: Nonsensical inscription, female figure standing left, holding uncertain object in right hand and cornucopiae and scepter in left hand.
