UNCERTAIN GERMANIC TRIBES, Pseudo-Imperial coinage. Mid 3rd-early 4th centuries. 'Quinarius' (Gold, 16 mm, 3.13 g, 6 h), imitating Lucius Verus, 161-169, or Septimius Severus, 193-211. Ꙩ Laureate head of Lucius Verus or Septimius Severus to right. Rev. IIVꙨIIꙨVII / XXX Five pellets forming an inverted T. With original suspension loop attached. Some scrapes and minor scratches, otherwise, very fine.


The perfectly centered small dies give this piece a lovely medallic aspect, but it is the wonderfully abstracted reverse that makes it a particularly charming imitation. Illiterate Germanic die cutters often just spread random symbols around their dies to create the impression of cohesive legends, but this ingenious artist carefully placed his symbols in a perfectly balanced and symmetric way. As a result, we can still recognize the basic Roman numismatic iconography he had in mind: a central reverse figure - here reduced to a small inverted T - is surrounded by a circular legend, which gets expanded by a straight line of letters below as we know it from Roman exergual marks. This is certainly far away from any official Roman coin (and, probably, from any Roman border), but it is also a fascinating testimony to the deep cultural influence that radiated for many centuries from the empire - even to the more distant 'Barbaricum'.