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Why Was A Gratian Coin Minted In Siscia?

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 Posted 02/11/2022  2:26 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add gerio2 to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I've read that Gratian (367-383) was the Western Emperor while Theodosius I was the Eastern Emperor yet I have come across Gratian coins minted in both Siscia and Nicomedia - both of which (Nicomedia at least) surely lie in the Eastern Empire.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Thanks!
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 Posted 02/11/2022  2:29 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add JohnConduitt to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
They minted coins in the east and west for all emperors, from the start of the Tetrarchy (when the Empire was split) e.g. both Constantius Chlorus and Galerius have coins from London and Antioch.

Part of the reason was to show the emperor in charge of that part of the Empire recognised the authority of the other emperor. This happens a lot in Roman coinage e.g. Carausius using AVGGG on his coins to recognise Diocletian and Maximian; and Magnus Maximus (a Western usurper) putting Theodosius (from Constantinople) on his coins.
Edited by JohnConduitt
02/11/2022 2:41 pm
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 Posted 02/11/2022  2:47 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add gerio2 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thank you John. Very interesting.
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 Posted 02/11/2022  5:12 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add january1may to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
They minted coins in the east and west for all emperors, from the start of the Tetrarchy (when the Empire was split
AFAIK it wasn't until after the full split, in 395 AD, that western mints mostly stopped making coins for eastern emperors (by then the western mints were essentially limited to just Rome and Ravenna); and eastern mints (which were more active and more numerous overall) continued making significant amounts of coins for western emperors for at least a decade after that.
(Sporadic cross-split issues continued into at least the 420s, and possibly even later, but, not counting the mysterious Cherson AE2s, there were no longer a significant fraction of the output.)

I'm not actually sure which side of the empire contained Siscia after 395. It appears that by the middle of the 5th century Siscia was firmly Ostrogothic, but I couldn't figure out where it was before that; it seems to have been close to the boundary.
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 Posted 02/12/2022  06:12 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add gerio2 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
AFAIK it wasn't until after the full split, in 395 AD, that western mints mostly stopped making coins for eastern emperors
Thanks also for this. Much to learn - but all fascinating!
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