UNCERTAIN GERMANIC TRIBES, Pseudo-Imperial coinage. Late 3rd-4th centuries. 'Aureus' (Gold, 20 mm, 6.34 g, 5 h). ΠΠ◠◠∾∾IIIICΠUΠUΠ◠◠ Bare-headed imperial bust to right with a decorative line of pellets above; before, small T. Rev. ∾UΠ◠◠III◠◠◠ΠΠIII Mars (?) walking left, holding spear over his right shoulder; in field to right, Γ. A most attractive piece of curiously blundered style. Light marks and with a minor flan flaw on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.


What this charming coin copies is impossible to say other than that the reverse probably shows Mars holding a spear over his shoulder, but the fact that even a piece this blundered looks surprisingly familiar to the modern viewer underlines how constitutive Roman coinage eventually became for the Western world. The combination of a Royal portrait with a figural reverse type and circular legends lay the groundwork for most of the later European coinage up to the widespread abolishment of monarchy in the modern era, whereas in some countries, it was only the introduction of the Euro in 2002 that brought along a radical change in the millenia-old numismatic iconography.