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Message:: [QUOTE="Tejas, post: 7611050, member: 84905"]I should have been a bit more transparent regarding the coins that I am researching. I'm looking at so called Half-Siliquae of Sirmium, which were minted sometime around AD 500. I currently know of 21 coins, 16 of which are in my collection, which puts me in a good position to do some die analysis. From pictures alone, it can be very hard to decide whether dies are identical or just very similar. I feel that I'm trying to squeeze out a lot of information from very small basis of evidence, but it is all we have. What is sorely missing is find spot evidence. There is no doubt that the original series started out in Sirmium, as indicated by the central letters SRM on the reverse. However, I imagine that imitations of these coins may have been made in two other nearby towns (Singidunum and Bassiniae). Interestingly, I have one specimen with findspot in southern Germany, near a place were some 20 Sirmium Quarter-Siliquae have been scientifically excavated in a grave. So sometimes these coins got displaced, but there is no doubt that they were made for local use in and around Sirmium. The differences in styles are so large that it is difficult to believe that only one or two craftsmen were at work, who improved over time or for some reason experimented with different styles. Pictures can be seen in my article here (which does not include all known coins): <a href="https://www.academia.edu/40929261/The_Sirmium_Group_an_overview" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/40929261/The_Sirmium_Group_an_overview" rel="nofollow">(99+) (PDF) The "Sirmium Group" - an overview | Dirk Faltin - Academia.edu</a> One important question is when these coins were made. The region and in particular Sirmium was strategically important and prestigious as former birthplace and base of Roman emperors.However, in around 500 the region was highly volatile and subject to raids by Germanic Heruls, Langobards and the hords of Mundo, a nephew of Traustila, who had held Sirmium in the 470s as king of the Gepids. In AD 500 the city was held by Traustila's son Thrasaric and further to the east roamed another Gepidic warlord called Gunderith who's relationship with Thrasaric is uncertain. In 504, Theoderic's Goths, who had held Sirmium before Traustila, retook the city, possibly to preempt an alliance between Thrasaric and Gunderith. During the campaign Theoderic's "generals" Pitzia and Herduic aided Mundo against a Roman force of Bulgar federates under a general Sabinianus, which in turn soured relationships between Theoderic and Anastasius. It was in this environment that the need for silver coins arose in Sirmium, perhaps because things stabilized for a while and trade began to flourish. Indeed, maybe the time around 500 was volatile, but incomparison to previous decades when the city was overun by the Huns, it was relatively stable. We know of Quarter-Siliquae, which started out as pure imitations of Gothic coins from Milan and we know of the extremely rare Half-Siliquae, which are an independent coinage, that makes to reference to the Gothic kingdom, but instead seems more in line with East Roman silver. I like Ross' idea that the Half-Siliquae were produced in a hurry and only for a short period of time. It is not impossible that they were minted under Thrasaric, if only to create the appearance of a return of Roman civilization to a once glorious city that had been ravaged by war. We should not forget, that these barbarian kings were eager to emulate Rome. Thrasaric had fled to Constantinople after the defeat of 504. His recently discovered grave stone, put his Roman title "comes domesticorum" before his title as king of the Gepids. BestDirk[/QUOTE]

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