After a grueling almost two month wait, my twins from Leu finally arrived this week. I don't generally like to post coins until I actually have them in hand, especially since Leu was robbed within the past year after concluding an auction! I did not plan on acquiring this coin, because I did not think my middling bid would win it! Still a very welcome replacement for the AE of his that I sold a couple years ago. Ostrogothic kingdom Athalaric, 526-534 AR Quarter Siliqua (0.6g) DN IVSTIANVS, Diademed bust (of Justinian?) Right DN/ATHAL/ARICVS/RIX within wreath Elevated to the throne at the tender age of 10, Athalaric was the grandson of the famous Ostrogothic king Theoderic, who managed to bring some semblance of stability to the lands that were once called Rome. Young Athalaric's mother wanted him to have a proper, Roman education and upbringing to mold him into a literate, cultured, and wise king. The Gothic nobility, however had other plans, and gave him a proper Gothic upbringing of underage drinking, premarital carnal knowledge, and round-the-clock partying. Athalaric lived a long and happy life, dying at the ripe old age of 18. Athalaric inherited from his grandfather a mint staffed with workers who were among the last to be trained in the traditional Roman way; thus his coins are ironically some of the finest produced in Italy since the first sack of Rome in 410 AD. These miniscule quarter siliquae are rare, but almost always found in excellent state of preservation, and are usually quite legible for an 11-12mm coin, even if about 1/2 to 2/3 of them say RIX rather than REX Have any to share? Let's see them!
Finn235, Nice score on your 1/4 Siliqua ! The 10 Nummi coin pictured below I won at auction last year at a modest price. It's in pretty rough shape like most of them .
Thanks all and very nice coins Al and Panzerman! I wish the barbarian coins of the early dark ages weren't so rare and expensive - it is a fascinating field of numismatics, and brimming with dream coins @panzerman - Any idea how the imitative solidii are classified? I have never understood how a good style imitation of Zeno could be attributed to a specific ruler?
