UNCERTAIN GERMANIC TRIBES, Pseudo-Imperial coinage. Late 3rd-early 4th centuries. 'Aureus' (Gold, 20 mm, 6.21 g, 11 h), ‘Unclassified Group’. COI<0OC/CΔ/[....]/\VCIIƆLCIIƆOIII Laureate and draped imperial bust to left, with long beard. Rev. OTIOXTOCƆO[...]ΓLOTOD Uncertain figure standing facing, hands and arms spread; various symbols around. A wonderfully abstract piece. Holed and with light doubling on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.


While not as abstract as the wildest example in the Aurum Barbarorum Collection (Part I, 829), this beautiful piece is certainly among the most charming examples of what a Germanic die cutter without access to Roman prototypes believed Roman coins to look like! The bearded bust is likely a distant reflection of the portraits of Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus, but what the reverse represents other than the artist's imagination is impossible to say.