UNCERTAIN GERMANIC TRIBES, Aurum Barbarorum. Late 3rd-early 4th centuries. 'Quinarius' (Gold, 19 mm, 3.29 g, 6 h), 'Bear Group'. IVIIΓIΛIII I IICIVIIΛ Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed imperial bust to left, seen from behind. Rev. IΘIIICIΘII / IΠI Bear, upright, standing left, attacking a warrior seated to right on the ground by grabbing his shield, the warrior holds a dagger or short sword in his right hand, with which he attempts to defend himself. Aurum Barbarorum I, 823 (same dies). An attractive example of this iconic issue, struck on a broad flan and with original suspension loop attached. Minor marks and with a die break on the reverse, otherwise, very fine.


The iconic Aurum Barbarorum bear type shows a warrior or hunter fighting a bear on the reverse. Terrified by the sight of the beast wresting his shield from him, the man has fallen to the ground, as he desperately tries to fend it off with his small-sized weapon. In contrast to Graeco-Roman iconography, which almost exclusively uses the (successful!) hunting of wild animals as a display of human strength and power, the Germanic artist presents us a wholly different view of nature as a dangerous and frightening environment. In the wild and untamed lands north of the Danube, predators such as bears and wolves undoubtedly were a real threat. Perhaps the singular image of a bear attacking a desperate human fallen to the ground thus represents an actual attack of such a beast that happened in the artist's environment, or it shows us animal fighting as a sport of the Germanic warrior society, with the life-threatening dangers of such activities clearly exposed. Alternatively, it may also serve as an allegory on the clash of civilization and the wild, similar to coins from Thasos showing a satyr abducting a nymph (see lots 40-41 above).