Watch List notes:

THE LOMBARDS
Liutprand, 717-744

With the name of the moneyer. Aufermo. Tremissis 717-744, AV 1.26 g. DNLI – VTPRX (NL and RX ligate) Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust r.; in r. field, T and on drapery, AVFERMO / RX. Rev. SCS – MIHIL St. Michael standing l., holding long cross and shield; in r. field, A. BMC Vandals –. Bernareggi –. Arslan –. MEC I, –. Cf. Arslan, "Un incontro inaspettato: I monetieri del re longobardo Liutprando, in Die Münze. Bild-Botschaft-Bedeutung", pp. 1-19.
Exceedingly rare. Wonderful reddish tone and good extremely fine


Lombardian issues were linked with a mint system in which the figure of the moneyer was not present or at least mentioned, and was seen as socially modest, when their name is recovered through other means (Bernareggi 1983, Moneta Langobardorum, 71). The organization of the Longobardian mint would have been much more similar to the Byznaitne system of the mint of Constantinopolis, in which no names appeared on its coins other than the issuing authority, compared with the Merovingian system where the myriad mints and multitude of moneyer's names suggest a different judicial interpretation of the meaning of the coin (MEC I, 97-102).
In the Lombard world, there was quite a long first period with issues in the name of the emperors of Constantinopolis from Justinian to Heraclius, however this does not imply that there was a form of organisation or control of the issues.
The first indications of a monitoring system, apparent on coins through signs or letters, are found on issues in the name of Maurice Tiberius with markings on the obverse or reverse. Only on one occasion has a monogram been noted, with the letters M and R, on his chest (Arslan 1978, Le monete di Ostrogoti, Longobardi e Vandali. Catalogo delle civiche raccolte numismatiche di Milano, 16), which could be the joining link with the successive Marinus Mon type (Arslan 1978, Le monete di Ostrogoti, Longobardi e Vandali. Catalogo delle civiche raccolte numismatiche di Milano, 12-13) on which we occasionally find next to the name of the moneyer, the presence of letters or signs and, on two occasions, a similar but more complete monogram, related to the same moneyer (Arslan 1978, Le monete di Ostrogoti, Longobardi e Vandali. Catalogo delle civiche raccolte numismatiche di Milano, 8). Marinus could have therefore minted coins in the name of Maurice Tiberius before striking with dies bearing his own name. Traces of this system are evidently clear when the name of Marinus is recorded (indicated as mon = monetiarius), this might mean that he tried to present himself as a candidate on coins which until that very moment had featured only the name of the emperor, and could have been an attempt at monetary reform. The case of Marinus came to a quick end, even though the issues do not appear to have been that reduced.
On the Lombardian coinage that followed, the name of the moneyers disappears, or rather, it remains only in the form of initials or symbols on the chest of the king on the obverse, however this change does not mean that the identification of the responsibilities of the various phases of minting was modified. The system of representing the different mechanisms of the operation of the mint (or mints), created by Cunipert, with its name on both the obverse and reverse, appears to continue until the first coins of Liutprand. During the second phase, the system appears to go through a change, or at least, the signs of the name of the moneyer on the chest are no longer reduced to initials, letters or monograms on the chest on the obverse and began to be written in full. Therefore the names of moneyers who had not only Germanic but also Latin roots appear (Lopez 1961, Moneta, e monetieri nell'Italia Barbarica, in Monete e scambi nell'ato Medioevo, 77; Arslan 1991, Un incontro inaspettato: i monetieri del re longobardo Liutprando). It therefore appears that the moneyers were not necessarily Lombard, but it is a result of a connotation in technical terms of the managing of an issue or a mint. The presence of names represented in full on these coins allows us to propose both the identification of a first group of Liutprand's moneyers and give a meaning to the letters or signs usually present on the king's chest or on other Longobardian dies.



The obverse bust transpires to be the traditional position of the name (or initial, monogram or symbol) of the moneyer, or at least of the people who had the same privileges as Marinus. The only clues that we can follow is the position: the names are positioned on the chest, in the same position that Marinus placed his monogram.
If, indeed, the names represented in full are the names of the moneyers, it is likely that the siglas, which are placed in the same position on the Liutprand types, were still related to the moneyers, without it being possible to understand more. Furthermore, one can deduce that the letters that appear instead in the field of the obverse, which have been demonstrated to not refer to the city of the mint and randomly correspond to the letters and symbols on the chest, must have referred to some other moment of the production of the coins, to those in charge on different levels. The situation is rendered only more complicated due to other legends and symbols on the reverse. It would appear that there was a highly complex procedure to follow in order to allow the minting and even for the final check. So elaborate that without any written documentation, it is impossible for us to understand precisely how it worked. A process in which letters, names or symbols could appear on the coins in three distinct places, hence on a triple level. The moneyers, who were gathered in a sort of corporation with inherited traditions must have played a fundamental role, especially in the later phases. Arslan 1991, Un incontro inaspettato: i monetieri del re longobardo Liutprando).
In the successive coinage of Ratchis, Aistulf, and again Ratchis and Desiderius, in the tremisses with a mysterious monogram, there always appears to be a binary system in place. Next to the letter which almost always appears next to the monogram, on the reverse there is a letter or a symbol beneath the wing of Saint Michael. Only in the second coinage of Desiderio, was there a small modification with the indications situated at the end of the obverse legend which denoted the name of a city and a system of points placed in varying positions in the obverse and reverse legends.