coin

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Object Type: coin
Museum number: B.11496
Denomination: nummus
Description: Copper alloy coin. (whole); Bust of Odovacar, draped and cuirassed with head bare, right. (obverse); Monogram of Odovacar within wreath. (reverse)
State: Associated with: Odovacar's Kingdom of Italy Europe: Odovacar's Kingdom of Italy
Authority: Ruler: Odovacar, King of Italy
Cultures/periods: Germanic
Production date: 477
Production place: Minted in: Ravenna (city)
Materials: copper alloy
Dimensions: Die-axis: 6 o'clock; Diameter: 11 millimetres; Weight: 1.41 grammes
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: This coin does not feature in the De Salis registers but is documented as forming part of his collection.; The obverse of this type bears the inscription that reads ODOVAC and on the reverse, the letter A in the monogram shows a horizontal bar. This is in contrast with similar evidence of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, which coins show a transversal bar . This difference lead Grierson to suggest that the BM coins were Cigoi’s fakes , a hypothesis that was contrasted by Kent who claimed that “the falseness of the specimen is not self-evident” . This argument dates to the last century and since then more coins have appeared mainly on the online markets and in the archaeological record . Even though the type with a transversal line is the most common , the evidence shows a more widespread typology than previously known, therefore supporting Kent’s claim.
Bibliographic references: RIC10 / The Roman imperial coinage, vol. 10: The divided empire and the fall of the western parts, AD 395-491. (3502); BZ3 / Catalogue of the Coins of the Vandals, Ostrogoths and Lombards and of the empires of Thessalonica, Nicaea and Trebizond in the British Museum (10, p.45); Baldi 2014 / Ostrogothic Coins in the British Museum (38.1)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: king/queen; symbol
Associated names: Named in inscription & portrayed: Odovacar, King of Italy
Acquisition name: Donated by: Count John Francis William de Salis
Acquisition date: 1860
Department: Money and Medals
Registration number: B.11496
C&M catalogue number: BZ3 (Vandals) (45) (10)

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