SUEVIC KINGDOM

This coin, considered unique, has been known in numismatic literature since the 19th century and is said to have been found in Castelo Branco (Portugal). It belonged to the Portuguese Pavia Pessoa collection, auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York in 1993, from where it entered the Orol collection. According to Livermore (1989), the legend refers to the peace treaty that the Suevic king Miro (570–580) signed with the Merovingians (GALLICA PAX, peace with Gaul) in an effort to defend themselves against the Visigoths—though the fleet sent by the allies from France was ultimately defeated by Visigothic forces. Other scholars, such as Reinhart, argue that GALLICA refers instead to the Regnum Gallicense, the name used by Gregory of Tours to describe the Suevic kingdom. If this interpretation is correct, the coin would represent the first mention of Galicia on a coin.