The Solidi of Julius Nepos Minted in Dalmatia

For Julius Nepos, the last legitimate Western Roman emperor, gold coinage was minted in Italy in three mints (Roma, Ravenna, and Mediolanum), to which he soon joined another two mints after he ascended to the imperial throne – one each in Gaul (Arelate) and Dalmatia (Salona or Spalatum). As a rule, they all minted solidi and tremisses (only Rome minted semisses), but in accordance with the tradition established as early as the beginning of the reign of the emperor Valentinian III, the mints were marked by symbols only on the reverses of the Western Roman solidi. An exception are the solidi of Nepos minted in Dalmatia as they are the only ones that do not bear a mint mark. Despite this fact, their existence and features were recognized in the 1980s, when the first two examples were singled out. Since then, the number of known Dalmatian solidi of Nepos, although then doubled, has only grown slightly, and still remains far less than the number of Dalmatian tremisses known to the present. Nonetheless, that insignificant greater number of solidi has enabled a more thorough analysis of their stylistic characteristics and a more purposeful recognition of the typological features sufficient for the definition of the various periods of their minting. The scarcity and the complete lack of connection between the dies of the Dalmatian solidi of Nepos provides a warning about the possibility of their short-term nature or even temporary minting in relation to the recognizable continuity of minting characteristic of the Dalmatian tremisses of Nepos.