I nummi con il monogramma di Ricimero

In this article we analyze the problems associated with the first coins to be issued in the Western Roman Empire bearing the monogram. Despite recent alternative proposals, we argue that the monogram bearing the letters R, M, C, E, relates, in fact, to the magister militum praesentalis Flavius Ricimer, and that these coins were issued in the period between 460 (or 461) and 467 AD. Finally, in the last part of this paper, the numismatic data is studied along with other types of sources in order to fully understand the ideological and political meaning of the coins bearing Ricimer’s monogram.