coin
- Museum number
- 1882,0405.1
- Description
-
Silver coin. (whole)
-
Bare headed, draped and cuirassed bust of Odovacar, right. (obverse)
-
Monogram of Odovacar within wreath. (reverse)
- Production date
- 477
- Dimensions
-
Weight: 0.82 grammes
- $Inscriptions
-
-
- Curator's comments
-
This is a rare example of the coins of Flavius Odovacar bearing his own effigy instead of Nepos or Zeno. He does not have a title and does not wear an emperor’s diadem. Although the effigy is stylised he is clearly shown as a Germanic individual with a mop of hair and moustache. Odovacar follows the initial convention of rulers in post-Roman Europe by the occasional use of a regal effigy on the silver while continuing to honour the emperor on the gold (excepting medallions). From their reaction when the convention was eventually broken by the Frankish king Theodebert I (534-548), the Byzantines assumed that this was a tradition borne of respect for an imperial overlord. However this tradition may simply have occurred because the gold coinage was intended to circulate farther than silver (i.e. beyond the kingdom) and needed a more universally recognised stamp in the fragmented post-Roman world.
-
This half siliqua portrays, on the obverse, the image of the king himself, bear headed without any regalia, but a hairstyle and moustaches, an overall look that is considered “barbaric”; the portrait as well as the legend FL ODOVAC, identify him as the king himself. On the reverse, the monogram of the king within a wreath and the mintmark RV underneath.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2022, 25 Jun -27 Nov, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier: Fall of Rome
- Acquisition date
- 1882
- Department
- Coins and Medals
- Registration number
- 1882,0405.1
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: HSBC.250 (Money Gallery Exhibited)
- C&M catalogue number
-
BZ3 (Vandals) (44) (9)
