From left to right top to bottom Theodoric Ravenna decanummi Shards of gepid siliqua in the name of Anastasius with the monogram of Theodoric Zeno Ae4 Vandal imitation of unknown ruler Theodosius ii AE4 Cyzicus mint Vandal nummus of Gelimer Marcian Ae4 Honorius ae4 One of my goals of the year was to get some sort of early Germanic silver and I’m really happy about the portrait on these shards!
Nice collection! I gotta admit my ADD has taken over though and I'm unable to look at them for long before I keep thinking... Here are some of my byzantine coins:
I have only one coin from this era, but I am very fond of it. Honorius solidus from Mediolanum (Milan)
Here's an Ostrogoth eagle Ostrogoths, Pseudo-Autonomous Æ Nummus (24mm 11.3g 12h). Struck during the reigns of Theodoric and Athalaric in Rome, circa AD 493-553. INVICTA ROMA, helmeted bust of Roma right / Eagle with raised wings standing left, head right; XL upwards to left; •Δ• in exergue. COI 76b; MEC 101; BMC Vandals 14; MIB I 74a; Demo 42.
Lovely coins man! Aha my cats used my coin tray as a bed sometimes, though honestly I find their hair everywhere.
Very cool! This is a great area that I love. I happened to have some on mine out on the desk so i took a group shot. I'm glad you posted this topic because it led me to realize a couple things: Apparently my organization is as crude as artistic techniques of this period, AND I still have a bunch of tiny beat up AE4 cross coins which I love (even if these ones aren't in great condition). Oh, don't worry I highly doubt any of those in my bag marked Avitus actually are lol
Thanks for the post! Although I love the history of this time period, the coinage is tough to love. After about 400-410ad or so until Anastasius, I don't have anything other than tiny unidentifiable cast-offs. I really do wish the coinage of 400-500 was better (in metals other than gold) as it's such an interesting time frame.
"Fall of Rome"? - this is a very Western Europe-centred view of history. Politically speaking, the Roman Empire fell in 1453. The city of Rome itself had ceased to be the political capital of the Empire in the early 4th c., if not the late 3rd. But religiously speaking, Rome is still the capital of Christendom - at least the Roman Catholic variety.
Cool coins. I have an unusually lovely Theodosius II AE4 (Allen Berman). Other than a decrepit Libius Severus, a Tremissis of Johannes, a mundane Leo and a smattering of eastern AE4s, I got nothin' after Honorius.
The 5th c. AD is a difficult century from a numismatic point of view. They minted gold solidi and tiny AE4, AKA "minimi". I am convinced the 4th c. larger AE coins from Constantius II to Honorius and Arcadius were still circulating, because they had been minted on an industrial scale and flooded the Mediterranean world. In the Near East, for example, archaeological sites are full of 4th c. AE coins in all grades, some lost soon after minting (in the 4th c.), some others much worn, which means they circulated a long time. 5th c. coins are less numerous, and they are always minute AE4 which are not easy to identify: when corroded, their identification is almost desperate and it is impossible to tell just from their size if they are 5th c. minimi because minute coins of the same module had been minted in the Near-East in the 2nd c. AD. Some 5th c. AD coins: Arcadius (Antioch, 401-403) Aelia Eudoxia AE3, 401-403 Arcadius AE4 (Alexandria, 404-406) Honorius (Antioch) 406-408 Theodosius II, solidus (Constantinople) Marcianus, AE4 (Constantinople) 450-457 Leo I, AE4 (Constantinople) 457-462 Anastasius, AE4 or nummus, 491-498
