Felix Ravenna - Ostrogothic Kingdom

Bought it some time ago, and it finally arrived! :jumping-jack: My second Ostrogothic coin in my collection! This type commemorates the city of Ravenna, which was then the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, and was minted between 518-526 AD during the later part of the reign of Theodoric the Great. The monogram of Ravenna on the reverse contains the letters R, V, E, and N. Interestingly enough, it was minted in Rome rather than Ravenna itself (I think it was because Ravenna was authorized to only mint silver; please correct me if I'm wrong).

AE Decanummium

Obv: FELIX R-AVENNA, turreted head of Ravenna right
Rev: Monogram of Ravenna within wreath, cross above, X below
Rome mint, COI 78b
15 mm wide

 

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Neat coin with cool patina.

 

I 100% Agree! Neat coin and even neater Patina.

 

If you want an idea on how it feels in hand, going by texture, patina, and size, my Felix Ravenna really reminds me of the Carthage coin you gave me a while back, only slightly thinner.

 

Gotta love those wild and crazy Goths !!!

 

It looks like a thick coin. What is the weight?

 

I don't know for sure since I don't have anything to weigh it with. But its somewhat thick for a coin of its size. The one on wildwinds (in better shape with full legends) is 2.57 grams, so I'm going to say a little less than that.

 

IMG_3609.JPG

The day the Goths visited California....

 

At 15mm, 2 and a half grams is fairly heavy. It must be fairly thick. I don't collect these, but this one looks good to me. :thumb:

 

Time to get a scale, VK. They are cheap.

On the other hand, I need a decent camera, but those are expensive. lol

 

Well done my comrade-in-arms-when-it-comes-to-buying-obscure-coins-from-mysterious-cultures-that-hardly-anyone-cares-about!

 

As soon as you get a decent camera lol Seriously though, do you have a smartphone? They can take nice photos if the camera is good enough.

 

I take all my coin photos with last years model Sony Cybershot, they can be had for about $100. The scale you can get off ebay for like $5.

 

I know, but I always end up throwing those $5 towards coins lol

 

There's a nice, fat, free history of Theodoric at Project Gutenberg here...

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20063/20063-h/20063-h.htm

Looks like a good, thick read.

 

It does. Looks like an excellent read; this should keep me occupied for a while!

Here's a good site that briefly discusses the wars that the Ostrogoths have been involved in. Also includes the Lombard invasion as well:

http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=wars&FileName=wars_ostrogoths.php

 

And another article, about the political and monetary policies of Theodoric:

http://www.coinsweekly.com/en/Archive/8?&id=222&type=a

 

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Jango => did you just delete PAN & Lovin' Goat?