King Mastinas' Monogram (?)
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Justinian I (527-565). AR Half Siliqua, Carthage mint. Obv. D N IVSTINIANVS P P AI. Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev. Monogram (Sear 3); above, cross; below, S, all within linear border surrounded by wreath. D.O. -; MIB 53; Sear 254 (as Siliqua); Ranieri 310 (Mathasunta); MBC Vandals pp. 80/1, 2-5 (Mathasunta). 0.77 g. 13.00 mm. RRR. An attractive example, of this very rare and controversial issue. Good VF. By the monogram on the reverse, this rare issue used to be attributed by scholars to the Ostrogothic queen Mathasunta. In 1959, P. Grierson, "Mathasunta or Mastinas: A reattribution, NC 1959, 119 ss. "suggested to decipher the monogram as belonging to the Mauretanian king Mastinas. Hahn, MIB 56 however interprets the issue as a regular African coinage of Justinian himself.