Featured Coins and history of the Visigoths

I never properly shared these two until now, now that I have good photos of them.





These two rare nummi were struck by the Visigothic Kingdom, the dominant power in Hispania (Spain and Portugal) from the 5th to 8th centuries AD. The Visigoths, a Christianized Germanic tribe, are best known as the barbarians that sacked Rome in 410 AD, the first conquest of the city in eight centuries, and, although mild as far as sacks go, was a major psychological victory over the Romans. The Visigoths after the sack eventually made their way into Roman Gaul (France), where they were later granted the province of Aquitania after securing peace with the Western Empire.

Over the course of the 5th century they expanded southwards into Hispania, fighting the Vandals for control of the land, and again the Romans, who briefly retook the peninsula during the campaigns of Emperor Majorian. But with the murder of Majorian, the Visigoths recovered their kingdom, and became one of the more powerful barbarian kingdoms in post-Roman Europe.

Despite losing all but one of their Gallic provinces to the Franks and temporarily losing their southern territories to the Eastern Romans in the 6th century, the Visigoths ruled a stable and successful state in Hispania for nearly three centuries, adding to the culture and history of the peninsula.

In 711 AD, Muslim armies of the Umayyad Caliphate crossed over from North Africa and invaded the Visigothic Kingdom, winning time and again over the disorganized Visigothic army. By 720 AD, the kingdom was gone and nearly all of Hispania was now under the rule of Islam. The Visigoths that refused to live under the invaders escaped to the unconquered northern part of the peninsula, where they established a resistance that became the start of the Christian Reconquista ("Reconquest"). The Reconquista to take back Spain would be finally be completed in 1492.

These two coins are from Emerita (Merida) and carry an anonymous bust on the obverse with the legend CIVITA, and a monogram of the city's name on the reverse (I believe the obverse legend and the monogram form the Latin phrase CIVITA EMERITA - "City of Emerita"), and were struck sometime in the mid-7th century AD.


Here are my other two Visigothic coins. Both carry a facing bust on the obverse, and a cross flanked by the letters S and P, meaning they were struck at the city of Hispalis (Seville).





All four coins range from around 8 mm to 13 mm wide.

 

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Love the Visgoth facing-busts ... nice write-up, Jango

Sadly, I don't have any coins from the sweet Visgothic Kingdom (*sigh*)

 

Yet......eh Steve

 

Excellent post!

 

Great thread.....

 

Thanks guys!

 

What exactly is the Visigothic monogram of Emerita? I can make out something that resembles a P on the first coin, but nothing on the second.

 

Very interesting, thank you.

And I can see a Roman saying "you know, this was mild as far as sacks go"!

 

Roman: "You sacked my city!"
Visigoths: "We only sacked it a little".

Rob

 

There's a little bit of that loop in the monogram on the second coin, at exactly 9o clock on the reverse, and TA in CIVITA can be made out on the upper right hand of the obverse. If you're asking what letters make up the monogram, I don't know exactly. It's a weird monogram. The few sources I've found online agree its the monogram of Emerita, but the reasoning for that I don't know. Perhaps these are mostly found in the area of modern Merida? I've also heard talk that these could be actually Seville issues, but for now I'll count this type as Emerita.

A better example of this type (not mine):

 

Great info.... love this thread VK

 

coolio are they worth alot???

 

Thanks for the lesson, VK. I wish I had some Visigothic pieces to share, but my collection of medieval coins is sparse to say the least. In reading the wiki article about the Visigoths, I did come across this little blurb concerning a certain incident with the Romans under the rule of Honorius...

"In response to the invasion of Roman Hispania of 409 by the Vandals, Alans and Suevi, Honorius, the emperor in the West, enlisted the aid of the Visigoths to regain control of the territory. In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic federates by giving them land in Gallia Aquitania on which to settle. This was probably done under hospitalitas, the rules for billeting army soldiers. The settlement formed the nucleus of the future Visigothic kingdom that would eventually expand across the Pyrenees and onto the Iberian peninsula." Source: Wikipedia.

I have one coin of this inept ruler to share, and I believe forward-facing portraits of Honorius are scarce in better condition - usually the faces are quite worn.

Honorius, 395-423
AE3, 18mm, 1.9g; Nicomedia mint
Obv.: D N HONORI-VS P F AVG, helmeted and cuirassed facing bust holding spear over shoulder and shield decorated with cross.
Rev.: CONCORDI-A AVGG, Constantinopolis enthroned facing, head left, holding scepter and Victory // SMNK
Reference: RIC X, 92 (p. 248)

 

Thanks for the excellent post. We have here a good example of the other side of our hobby from the one most commonly considered. The finest examples of these dark age coins would never be desired by the 99% of condition oriented collectors. A coin that is identifiable with certainty is the equivalent of EF in some of these. Full legends here are more scarce than MS69 is in other games. Part of the fun in some series is being able to see the good where others can not get past the obvious faults. VK is our local ambassador of coins whose beauty is hidden better than most.

If there is one thing to be gained from the study of ancients it might be the realization that there are no absolutes of worth or interest. Like beauty, these, too, are in the eyes of the beholder.

 

If there is one thing to be gained from the study of ancients it might be the realization that there are no absolutes of worth or interest. Like beauty, these, too, are in the eyes of the beholder.[/QUOTE]

As a recent convert to ancients and as someone who spent a small fortune on US type set coins where the premium was for coins that had no real coin life, Doug's point is extremely important.

At first it was hard to shake the need for perfection. But the lack of "grading" and "valuations" in this category became a huge delight. I can trust my artistic vision and my only consideration is price. And I have yet to be put off by most of the pricing.

Now I can choose coins that I covet based on eye appeal alone and then find out their history, which continues to amaze and surprise. I admit to have very little strategy at this time but I think one is slowly emerging as I continue to read and follow these boards.

But for now I use only 2 criteria for coin selection; is the coin that I see sufficiently "bad ass" and "awesome" by virtue of it's appeal to my eye. So far I am hitting about 98% correct as judged when it is in my hand. I've bought about 60 coins since my first one on 9/10/2014. And none of these have been "expensive" compared to my US coin experiences. And what's more, I don't give 2 hoots about the spot price of silver or what the grey sheet says I should pay for a coin.

I've just finished "Diocletian and the Roman Recovery" by Stephan Williams. 2 months ago I would have thought that this was about an indie rock group.

 

That would be a great name for a band.

 

Oh yeah, there are a million ancient band names...
PVSSY RIOT
Nero and the fiddlers
Ptolemy at the Disco

 

ADBC

 

ADBC!! that's great!

how about "The Flans"

 

Your very welcome Doug. I'm happy to inform and I'm glad this got the good reception it did.