Sale: CNG 72, Lot: 2230. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2006.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

VISIGOTHS, Gaul. Uncertain king. AD 417-507. AV Solidus (4.40 g, 6h). Struck in the name of Valentinian III, circa AD 423-455. Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right, pellet in nimbus above / Emperor standing facing, right foot on human-headed serpent, holding long cross and Victory: R-V//COMOB. Cf. RIC X 3715; Depeyrot, Solidi 1; cf. MEC 1, 168. Good VF, toned, minor test mark on edge of reverse.

From the Marc Poncin Collection. Ex Numismatica Geneviensis 3 (29-30 November 2004), lot 174.

The Visigoths were one of many Germanic tribes invaded the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD. Their early period is most notable for their defeat of the emperor Valens at Adrianople in AD 378 and their sacking of Rome under Alaric in AD 410. Alaric’s successor, Athaulf, led the Visigoths into Gaul and Spain, where they subsequently fought against the Vandals and Suevi for the emperor Honorius. Honorius rewarded them, in AD 417, with his permission to settle as foederati in western Aquitaine. Over the following half-century, the Visigoths rendered relatively faithful service for the empire, until their king Euric conquered much of Gaul and established an independent kingdom. This kingdom was quickly squashed in AD 507 by the Franks under Clovis, and the center of Visigothic power moved to Spain, where it flourished and took hold. The majority of the later kings were relatively weak and ineffectual. A few exceptions were the following: Leovigild, an outstanding military and political leader whose long reign (AD 568-586) ushered in the royal line that continued until the end; Reccared, who officially abandoned Arianism for Catholicism; and Sisebut and Swinthila, whose efforts led to the final conquest of Byzantine possessions in Spain. By AD 711, the decentralizing of power in Visigothic Spain had left the kingdom weak in the face of the invading Arabs, who defeated Roderick, the last Visigothic king. Another Visigothic leader, Achila II, continued to rule in Septimania, but he was also killed by the Arabs in AD 714.