UNCERTAIN GERMANIC TRIBES, Pseudo-Imperial coinage. Late 3rd-early 4th centuries. 'Aureus' (Gold, 18 mm, 2.76 g, 12 h), ‘Provincial Group’. Imitating a pseudo-autonomous bronze issue. IO\/\IOƆIIOIOIIOИOIIIƆIIIO[..] (starting at 12 o'clock) Bare head of Herakles with long beard to right. Rev. IIIIOO[...]OOI Eros, nude and winged, standing front, legs crossed, leaning left on torch (?) set on tripod or altar. A very interesting piece. Holed and with a few light marks, otherwise, good very fine.


This exceptional piece differs from all other Aurum Barbarorum in that it copies a pseudo-autonomous Roman Provincial bronze coin! There is no direct prototype, but the types are easily recognizable: a bearded portrait of Herakles in fine style on the obverse and a rendering of Eros, albeit somewhat crude, leaning on his torch set on a stone. Pseudo-autonomous bronzes showing Herakles are abundant in Thrace and western Asia Minor, whereas Eros leaning on his torch is a common type in Moesia and Bithynia in particular, regions that the Gothic invaders plundered repeatedly in the 250s-260s. Perhaps this is how the Germanic artist got to know the types, or perhaps he encountered Roman Provincial bronzes in the pockets of merchants buying grain from his native region.