The coinage of the Visigoths was minted in Gaul and Hispania during the early Middle Ages, between the fifth century and approximately 710.

The principal denominations were the solidus and the tremissis, gold coins issued in the late imperial era by both Western and Eastern emperors. The earliest coinage is from Gaul, where the Visigoths settled at the beginning of the fifth century, and was followed by coinage from Hispania in the beginning of the sixth century, which became the centre of Visigothic rule after they lost the majority of their territory in Gaul to the Franks.

The first coins, commonly known as the pseudo-imperial series, imitate contemporary Roman and Byzantine coinage, with copied legends. After 580 coins were issued in the name of the Visigothic kings. This royal coinage continued until the second decade of the eighth century, when Visigothic rule was ended by the Islamic conquest of Iberia.

The most recent work on the Visigothic coinage is the first volume of the series Medieval European Coinage (MEC), published by Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn in 2007. Visigothic coins can be found between the catalogue numbers 166 and 277. Another important catalogue is George Carpenter's study, published in 1952 by the American Numismatic Society, which covers the period between 580 and 713.

The only study which covers the entirety of the coinage is that of Reinhart, with separate works on the Gallic^[1] and Hispanic^[2] series.

The pseudo-imperial coinage imitating Western archetypes is catalogued by Henry Cohen, in Description Historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, Vol. 8, and in Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. 10. Imitations of Byzantine coins are covered by the catalogue of the collection of Dumbarton Oaks (DOC) and Moneta Imperii Byzantini (MIB).

The history of the Visigoths can be divided into three important periods:

• a migratory period, which started in 376 and ended with the Visigothic settlement of south-west Gaul in 418.
• a Gallic period which ended in 507 with the battle of Vouillé, after which Clovis I, King of the Franks, conquered most of the Visigothic territories of Gaul.
• an Iberian period, which was ended by the Islamic conquest of the Iberian peninsula in 714.

The Visigoths migrated to the Western Roman Empire in the 370s and became significantly romanized. In 418 they were recognised as foederati, and were granted Aquitane by Honorius. This was the first centre of the Visigothic Kingdom, which over the course of the fifth century extended over the Pyrenees, including a significant portion of Hispania. In the first half of the seventh century, after the fall of the Kingdom of the Suebi (in c. 585) and the final abandonment of continental Spain by the Byzantine Empire, the Visigoths became sovereign rulers of most of the Iberian peninsula. The resulting state survived until the Islamic invasion of 711.

In the study of the coinage of the Visigoths a different periodisation is applied. The coinage of the migratory and Gallic periods are not distinguishable, both consisting of pseudo-Imperial issues. The third period coinage can be divided into two phases, the first which continues the imitation of Imperial coinage, and the latter in which the coins are issued in the names of the Visigothic Kings.

South-central Gaul was the heart of the Visigothic Kingdom from 418 to 507. The pseudo-imperial coinage of this period consists mainly of solidi and tremisses. Siliquae are also known. All denominations are very similar to their Roman archetypes, faithfully copying legends and designs, albeit crudely. The tremissis was worth a third of a solidus, and the siliqua an eighth of a tremissis. The coins do not bear any identifying marks to distinguish them from Roman issues; they are identified by style and archaeological context. The dating is hence approximate.^[3]

The most probable mint for these issues is Toulouse,^[3] in South Gaul, the royal capital. It is thought that there was also a mint at Narbonne,^[3] where in 414 Ataulf married Galla Placidia, sister of Honorius. This hypothesis arises from a solidus, now lost, but published in the 18th century, minted in the name of Priscus Attalus, a puppet emperor supported by Ataulf.^[3][4] This coin bears the mintmark "NB", which may indicate Narbonne.^[3] A mint at Narbonne is also referenced in a poem of Sidonius Apollinaris (carmen 23)^[5] of 460, but under imperial control - as no issues from such a mint are known this may be poetic license.^[3] Narbonne definitely had a mint during the reign of Liuvigild in the late 6th century, but minting likely already started in 507, when the city became the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom.^[3]

The Visigothic coinage in Gaul were initially imitations of Western Roman coinage, which ended in around 481. After 509, imitations of Byzantine coinage follow, starting with those of Anastasius I Dicorus.^[3]

In 507 the Battle of Vouillé was fought between the Franks commanded by King Clovis I and the Visigoths led by Alaric II. Alaric was killed in the battle, and the Visigothic army suffered a crushing defeat, which led to Clovis' conquest of Toulouse and the large part of the Visigothic possessions in Gaul. The Visigoths only succeeded in defending Septimania, between the mouth of the Rhône and the Pyrenees.

The centre of the Visigothic state was then in the old Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis, then in the central Iberian Peninsula, where their kingdom prospered until the Islamic invasion of 711.

The legend normally gives the name of the king in Latin, followed by REX, sometimes abbreviated as a monogram as shown to the left.^[20]

During the joint reign of Egica and Wittiza, the titles given were reges, abbreviated as RGS, RG or similar. Only under Liuvigild and Ermenegild does one find the name of the king in the genitive, rather than the nominative, and preceded by D N, an abbreviation for dominus.^[20] Under Chindasuinth, the mint of Toledo introduced the legend INDN, abbreviating In nomine Domini (in the name of the Lord), which became common until the reign of Wamba, with various other abbreviations known, such as INDNM, INDIMN. The coinage of Egica also sometimes bear the legend N + P N•M•, an abbreviation of In Xristi Nomine (in the name of Christ).

The names of the kings were written in various ways, for example Suintila is found as SVINTHVLΛ, SINTILΛ, SVINTH:L:, SVINTIIV among others, Liuva as LEOVΛ, LIVVΛ and similar. The number of variants increases notably with more complicated names such as Chindasuinth and Recceswinth, in which some letters commonly end up being combined as a ligature or monogram.^[20]

The reverse bears the name of the mint, also in Latin. TOLETO, CORDODΛ (CORΛOBΛ, CORDOBΛ, CORΔOBΛ), ELLIBERI (IIBERI), ISPΛLI, ELVORΛ (ERBO:RΛ) indicate Toledo, Cordoba, Eliberi or Illiberis (modern-day Granada), Ispalis (Seville), and Elvorra (Évora) respectively. In some cases the mint is indicated only by a monogram.

The epigraphy of the Visigothic coinage is characteristic.^[20] The letter "A" is normally written without a bar - Λ. The letter D is commonly replaced with a Greek delta (Δ). Likewise the group th is often written using a Greek theta (Θ). The letter "L" is often rendered simply as a cross, +, for example +IVVIGI+DVS for Liuvigild, and sometimes the letter "D" is used in place of a "B". Ligatures of up to five letters are known. Sometimes dots are substituted for letters, especially vowels, normally two as a colon, but sometimes one or three, an example being SVINTH:L: for Suintila.

The name of the mint on the reverse is typically followed by a royal epithet. The most common is PIVS, but IVSTUS is also commonly found. FELIX and VICTOR are also known.

Miles identifies 79 mints. A few others have subsequently come to light, and therefore the total currently known is a little over 80.^[21][22]

The majority of mints were of relatively little importance and are known only thanks to a few extent examples, in some cases not more than one or two.^[21]

Around half of the 3500 coins conserved originated from four mints: the capital Toleto (Toledo) and three southern centres: Emerita (Mérida), Ispalis (Siviglia) and Cordoba (Cordova). Other important centres of production, with a hundred to two hundred coins known for each, were Eliberis, close to modern day Granada, and three more northerly mints: Cesaracosta (Zaragoza), Tarraco (Tarragona) and Narbona (Narbonne).^[21] Narbona was the last mint under Visigothic control north of the Pyrenees after the Battle of Vouillé.

Other minor mints were found in Gallaecia (roughly modern day Galicia), where there had been important mines from Roman times.^[21]

We do not have any documentation of the mints and little is known of their organisation or the relationship between the mints and the Visigothic state, beyond what can be inferred from the changes in the coinage over time.^[21]

Several major hoards of Visigothic coins are known, the most important recent discovery being that of Zorita de los Canes, unearthed by archaeologists in 1945.^[23][24]

A hoard of coins of Reccared I and various other monarchs was found in Garrovillas de Alconétar, in 1731. The exact composition of the hoard is unknown, but a large part of it was acquired by the Real Academia de la Historia, where it remains to the present day.^[25] A hoard found in Bordeaux in 1803 included 38 Visigothic tremisses from the reign of Liuvigild to Wamba, although at least three were forgeries. In 1816, a hoard of over 800 coins was found in La Grassa, near Constantí, but it was scattered soon after its discovery.

The hoard of La Capilla, discovered in 1891, likely included between 800 and 1000 coins, is one of the most important. Although the coins were dispersed soon after their discovery, over a third of the extent specimens are now found in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America. In 1932, 110 Visigothic coins were found in Abusejo, and deposited at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain and the Instituto Valencia of Don Juan.

The hoard of Zorita de los Canes, found at the site of the Christian basilica in the Visigothic city of Reccopolis, in 1945, includes 90 tremisses, the latest being issues of Livuigild I, which, while not bearing the names of the mint, were presumably produced locally.^[26]

• Andrew Kurt. 2020. Minting, State, and Economy in the Visigothic Kingdom: From Settlement in Aquitaine through the First Decade of the Muslim Conquest of Spain. Amsterdam University Press.

• Cabré Aguiló, Juan El Tesorillo visigodo de Trientes de las excavaciones del plan nacional de 1944-45 en Zorita de los Canes (Guadalajara), Madrid : Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 1946. Informes y memorias (Spain. Comisaría General de Excavaciones Arqueológicas), no. 10.
• Grierson, Philip and Mark Blackburn, Medieval European Coinage (MEC) - Volume 1, The Early Middle Ages (5th–10th Centuries), Cambridge, 2007. p. 39-54 ISBN 978-0-521-03177-6
• Kent, J.P. Un monnayage irrégulier du début du Ve siècle de notre ère, BCEN (Bulletin trimestriel du Cercle d'Études Numismatiques) 11 (1974), p. 23-28
• Kurt, Andrew. "Visigothic currency and its making and moovement: a varying state of circumstances", Visigothic Symposia 3 (2018-2019): 165-97.
• Martínez Jiménez, Javier; Isaac Sastre de Diego; Carlos Tejerizo García. (2018) The Iberian Peninsula between 300 and 850. An Archaeological Perspective. Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia 6. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789089647771
• Miles, George Carpenter (1952) The Coinage of the Visigoths in Spain: Leovigild to Achila II, New York, American Numismatic Society.
• Pliego Vázquez, Ruth, (2009) La moneda visigoda, 2 vols. Seville: Universidad de Sevilla.