---
title: Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/
description: 'A gold solidus: the obverse is the emperor''s frontal helmeted bust holding a cross-topped orb, the reverse a winged Victory carrying a staff topped with…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538.jpg)

# Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff

A gold solidus: the obverse is the emperor's frontal helmeted bust holding a cross-topped orb, the reverse a winged Victory carrying a staff topped with the Christogram and a cross-topped orb, above the mint mark CONOB. The legend VICTORIA AVGGG states victory of the emperors as a standing fact on every coin, and the Christian symbols in Victory's hands attach divine sanction to it.

- **Date:** 0538
- **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914)
- **Made by:** Byzantine imperial mint at Constantinople, under Emperor Justinian I
- **Region:** [Middle East and North Africa](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=middle-east-north-africa)
- **Country:** [Byzantine Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=byzantine-empire)
- **Medium:** [Banknotes and coins](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=banknote-coin)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [Justinian Regime](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=justinian-regime)
- **Leader:** [Justinian I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=justinian-i)
- **Audience:** [Mixed](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=mixed)
- **Purpose:** [Reassure](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=reassure)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Religion](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=religion)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/469160), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (The Met Open Access, CC0; isPublicDomain true in the Met API; object about 1,500 years old) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Joseph H. Durkee, 1898 (99.35.7406), Open Access

## Text on the object

Original (Latin) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Obverse: D N IVSTINI[ANVS] P P AVG

Reverse: VICTORI[A AVGGG] Ǝ
CONOB
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Obverse: Our Lord Justinian, Perpetual Augustus.

Reverse: Victory of the Augusti [emperors]. [workshop letter]. CONOB (mint mark: Constantinople, gold standard).
```

Letters in square brackets are worn or partly off the flan and are restored from the standard legend of the type. The final letter after the legend looks like a reversed E on the photograph and is a workshop mark. CONOB is a mint-and-fineness mark, not a word.

[← Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Bonaparte, Premier Consul de la Republique Francaise: Revue du Quintidi (Boilly, Levachez, Duplessis-Bertaux)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bonaparte-premier-consul-revue-du-quintidi-1802/) (Aug 17, 1802 · Transfer)