The MINIMS

The minims are local imitations or barbaric strikes with very light weight. These imitations of very particular fabrications, very stylized, are quite recognizable and do not seem to relate to a particular group. Under the Gallic Empire, engravers seized Roman or Gallo-Roman prototypes, imitated them, copied them and falsified them to the delight of modern numismatists. Most of it was struck in Gaul, Brittany and Hispania, but also in the territories bordering the Roman Limes. These are coins of necessity, created by "legal" workshops out of control. These coins, often much smaller in size and weight than the norm, are divided into minims - around 15mm and approximately 2g - and minimissim (not sure what is the exact term in English...) - 10mm and less and lighter than 1g. There are thousands of them, which imitate coins that still circulated such as Gallienus, Claudius the Gothicus, Postumus, Victorinus and especially the two Tetricus. Some are very well imitated, others much more rudimentary. They are classified by reverse type in the AGK. The legends are often degenerate, made of lines (I, /,) and drawings more or less representative of the originals types. We often find an obverse of one Emperor and a reverse of another, depending on the pieces serving as a model for the probably illiterate "artist". The most bizarre are those depicting a specific reverse engraving like SALVS, COMES, VICTORIA but with unrelated reverse legend like SPES AVG, PAX PVBLICA, etc. One example in my collection, Providentia on the reverse but the legend reads Victoria...



These coins are often unique because the materials used in the fabrication of dies were of poor quality, so only a few coins were struck, quickly worn and little hoarded because of no value. It is therefore exceptional to find two identical coins struck with the same dies.

Some scholars present a stylistic division into 3 groups. It is logical, however, that, as in the case of the division by type of reverses, no true chronology can be derived from a stylistic classification. Indeed, the minims having been issued in a large number of private workshops, by a very large number of engravers of different skill, there can be no homogeneity in the quality of the engravings, and the most common "degenerates" types are not necessarily the most recent. Coins from Group 1 have design close or relatively close to the originals both on the obverse and on the reverse, legends generally intelligible with well-formed letters.
Group 2 have portraits which tends to be less personal, one or more attributes are missing from the divinity on the reverse, and its position is less vivid and natural. Legends also tend to become faulty to the point of becoming incomprehensible.
Group 3: The specimens tend to disintegrate, otherwise they are strongly stylized. The legends, when they have not disappeared are very faulty, sometimes with letters that do not exist. Sometimes the reverse is limited to a radiated crown and a set of lines and points. Here's a specimen that I would classify in this category:



Fascinatingly, the smallest radiate copies that have been analyzed, the so-called minims, often have a different metallurgical composition. It seems that these minims are among the latest of the radiate imitations that were produced. They are often made from either a tinned copper alloy or from pure copper. The tin may have been used to give a silvery appearance, an attempt to make these small coins look more precious than they were in reality. The use of copper probably represents the last gasp of radiate imitations, employing whatever was available in the early 280s after other supplies of more intrinsically valuable metal had been exhausted.
Now I'd like to present you my latest purchase (from a coin show), and I believe it's good enough to be a member of Group 1 :

Tetricus II Minim (Group 1)
CPE TETRICVS CAES / SPES AVGG
12mm 1.40g
Cunetio 3033 Normanby 1975


I know it's almost impossible to find a die-match, but I will try to do it anyway...
Here are some references and pictures from the Cunetio and Normanby hoards for similar minims. Do you see a match ???









Please feel free to share with us your minims !

 

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I don't have any radiate minims, but have these Sri Lankan imitations of 4th century Roman bronze, probably minted between 6-7th century AD.

First coin is based on the FEL TEMP REPARATIO aka fallen horseman type, weighing 0.89 grams, the reverse is mirrored, my guess is the engraver just copied the official coin in the die and when struck, the coin came out like this. I find the style on this coin simple yet elegant.


Second is a coin based on the Gloria Exercitus type, what I like about this coin is that the engraver's attempt to copy the Latin words, totally unrelated to the local Tamil or Nagari scripts! It weighs 1.55 g.


This one is curious, the reverse was probably copied from a cross, however we see a Swastika, an auspicious symbol for the Hindu/Buddhist religions. Here we see the locals taking in the Roman culture, however they knew to separate the religion! It weighs 0.82 g.

 

Great examples. This is my best 'Group 1':

Commemorative Series, 335-339


Mint in East Anglia. Bronze, 14mm, 1.2g. Urbs Roma. Ex 1989 Nether Compton (Dorset) Hoard.

This might be 'Group 2':

Barbarous Theodora/Constantinopolis Hybrid Follis, 340

Britain. Bronze, 13mm, 0.95g. Design and legends are backwards. Diademed, mantled bust left (official is right), backwards CIHHO-O AIIG (should be FL MAX THEO-DORAE AVG). Constantinopolis standing on a prow of a ship, holding scepter and shield, ZPT in exergue (Trier is TRS).

This is perhaps 'Group 3':

Tetricus I Barbarous Radiate, 274-280


Britain, imitating Cologne. Bronze, 13mm, 0.86g. (IMP TET)RICVS (P F AVG). Salus, SA(LVS AVGG) (cf RIC V2 127). Purportedly from the Whitchurch (Somerset) Hoard. The legend matches Salus, but who knows if the figure is Salus or not.

Goodness knows what group this is:

Tetricus I Barbarous Antoninianus, 273-280

Britain. Bronze, 16mm, 2.4g. AEQUITAS AVG reverse.

 

I love that Victorinus imitation!

I guess this one of Gallienus (with a Spes reverse like your Tetricus II) is a "minimissim" at only 0.85g:


And this Tetricus II is about the same size, and definitely a group 3! The reverse imitates the pontifical implements type shown just below it:

 

Bordering on Group 4?

 

Didn't know they were called minims - learn something new everyday

This minim (Group 1 ?) came as a most generous gift from @Ryro, "Guess the CTer 2021":

Romano-Gallic, Tetricus II, 273 – 274 AD, Southern Galllic Mint/Cologne, Barbaric imitation (unofficial issue). Note how on the reverse instead of PAX the lettering reads PVX

16 x 15 mm, 1.726 g
Type RIC V-2, 248; Cohen VI 46


Ob.: C PIV ESV TETRICVS CAES radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right
Rev.: PVX AVGG, Pax standing to left, holding olive branch and long transverse scepter

​

 

A coin style near and dear my barbaric heart!

 

In American English, I’ve heard them referrrd as “minimus” and “miniminimus”

 

Interesting write-up, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! Fun examples, everybody!

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.

 

Interesting write-up and coins everyone.

I would say that my 2 examples belong to group 1



1.38 g 13.9 mm
Tetricus I with Salus



This is not a radiate but I think it fits the discussion

 

This one came in a lot:

 

Thanks for the interesting write-up. What is the AKG?

 

Are there any available books that cover these?

I went through the bibliography on Victor Clark’s site for coins of this type, but I believe everything he had listed were articles from periodicals.

I have one of these I bought from Warren Etsy a few years back, and I find them really interesting. It’s great to see all of these. They hold a certain charm, don’t they?

 

Die Antoninianusprägung der Gallischen Kaiser von Postumus bis Tetricus by Heinz-Joachim Schulzky.

Books I'm not sure. Interesting articles yes:
http://www.fredericweber.com/articles/imitations_radiees.htm

Also check on academia.edu under Adrian Marsden; he wrote many papers about radiates imitations.

 

Thanks, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix.

 

I can read some of the inscriptions: on the obverse TETRICVS and on the reverse VGG

 

Got this coin from my old folders. They're not to be liked. Reverse shows 2 standing persons, facing each other.

 

A mini from judeah, prutah imitation 11 mm and 0.98 grams

 

A very interesting article, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, that I read from a to z (with a little help from my friends of Google Translate). It's the reasoning and the economics that help me understand the ins and outs of the local imitations and minimi.

The article is from 2008, but the books in his bibliography are older: 1931, 1949, 1969... I think one should be careful using old theories indiscriminately with the new ones. There are modern studies, too - nay, there's a large wood of modern studies that's hard to penetrate, and a flood of new discoveries in the last 25 years.

Not being very methodic, I stumble on - on the Google road...
I found a few beauties in the Künker auction 121 (2007), the De Wit Collection, about the first c.100 numbers - with a very extensive and methodic introduction about imitations.

Here's a random part of it.

 

Thank you. I was able to download one paper. It is over my head at this point, but hopefully as I learn more I will be better able to digest it.