DIVO CLAVDIO, Bust of Claudius right / CONSECRATIO, altar. Brown patina, 13mm, 1.11 grams. Nicer than the scan, scarce this nice. From a French hoard.

Ancient barbarous radiates seems to have been produced between the reigns of Victorinus and ca.274 AD (after the Gallo-Roman Empire was reincorporated into the Roman Empire), 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.