UNCERTAIN GERMANIC TRIBES, Pseudo-Imperial coinage. Late 3rd-early 4th centuries. 'Aureus' (Gold, 21 mm, 5.00 g, 5 h). Crude imperial head or bust to left; around, imitative legend in the form of a decorative zigzag line. Rev. Male figure standing front, head to left, holding uncertain object (patera?) in his right hand and inverted spear in his left; to left, altar (?) formed out of four crescents, all back to back; around, imitative legend in the form of a decorative zigzag line. A heavily stylized and wonderfully crude piece. Holed and with some scrapes on the obverse, otherwise, good very fine.


Vaguely reminiscent of Aurum Barbarorum I, 828-829, this exceptional coin is perhaps the wildest imitation we have offered to date. Clearly the Germanic artist understood the basic iconography of Roman coins - inscriptions and a head or bust on the obverse and a fully-body figure(s) on the reverse - but that is about it. Going from there, he created this wonderfully crude piece, with a portrait on the obverse resembling a chess piece and legends devolved into decorative zigzag lines. The reverse figure holds a spear and perhaps a patera, with this cataloguer's best guess being that the artist thought of a sacrificing Roman emperor. If this is true, the lovely geometric pattern of four crescents on the left likely represents an altar.