Zeno held the eastern throne in AD 476, the year the last emperor in the West was pushed aside and the Western Roman Empire came to an end. This small gold tremissis was struck at Constantinople during that reign, when the East alone carried the Roman name forward. Gold of Zeno survives in far smaller numbers than the bronze of the period, since most of it was later melted or reminted. Collectors pursue the type as a dated link to the exact moment the ancient Roman world changed hands.

The obverse carries a pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Zeno facing right, framed by the legend D N ZENO PERP AVG. The engraving is crisp, with the diadem ties, drapery folds, and fibula all rendered in sharp relief. On the reverse, Victory advances right holding a wreath and a globus cruciger, with a star in the left field and CONOB in the exergue marking the Constantinople gold mint. The surrounding legend VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM remains bold and fully legible around the rim.

NGC Ancients graded this tremissis AU★ with a Strike of 5/5 and a Surface of 4/5, and the Star designation recognizes eye appeal well above the norm for the assigned grade. The gold shows warm, even color with bright fields and only light handling on the high points. A perfect strike on a coin this small is uncommon, and the full legends on both sides put this piece near the top of what survives for the issue. For those seeking a sharply struck gold coin from the final decades of the Roman Empire in the West, this tremissis delivers. The coin pictured is the exact coin you will receive.

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