Silver Visigothic Coinage

It had always been thought that the Visigoths struck only gold coins. This article presents a group of Visigothic silver coins, very different from anything that has previously been described. They are not siliquae or their fractions, but tiny pieces around eight millimetres in diameter with an average weight of 0.068 grams. These coins, of a recognizable Visigothic style, were part of a small hoard of six silver coins and five gold tremisses imitating those of Justinian I (527–65) which were found in an archaeological excavation in the province of Tarragona. This provenance, together with their typology and their association with the Visigothic gold coins, helps to confirm they are Visigothic silver issues which were probably struck in Barcelona, then the Visigothic capital.