DIVO CLAVDIO, radiate and cuirassed bust right / CON, square altar, to the right, a female figure standing l. Light brown patina, beautiful style, nicer than the scan, 17mm, 2.6 grams. Extremely rare. Found in a hoard in Northern France.This type depicts a figure standing next to the altar. The figure is female, wearing a long skirt, bending back at the waist and standing left in the right field. The coins were all 15 to 17mm in diameter, and all show a clear DIVO CLAVDIO reverse inscription. The die seems to be very large, and part of the obverse inscriptions is struck off flan, and the complete reverse design could not be seen on any of the specimens examined, even though the parts of the reverse figure that are clear render the design unambiguous. Four such coins could be located, all struck from the same set of dies and all from different French hoards. Official prototype for such an imitation did not exist the coin is the product of a confusion of possible an attempt to re-engrave an old die. The second assumption is supported by the fact that all the specimens examined showed signs of re-engraving in the lower and the left field. Furthermore, the ending of the reverse inscription seems to be obliterated by engravingthis female figure over the inscription. Why anyone would attempt this is unknown it is difficult to draw parallels for such an exercise, but the odd die was used in striking some coins that went into circulation.Ancient barbarous radiates seem to have been produced between the reigns of Claudius II and ca.274 AD, when Aurelian banned the circulation of these small imitative bronzes throughout the Empire. It is likely that at least some of the barbarous radiates were produced after 274 AD all the way into the early 280's. The value of the barbarous imitations was almost certainly not equal to their official counterparts - they probably saw only local limited circulation, and fulfilled the role of token coinage in times of an acute coin shortage.