About this objectCoin of Tetricus I, one of two coins found in a garden at Green End in Weston. The finder took the coins to Letchworth Museum on 9 April 1990 for identification where it was recorded that the coins were found in the garden "recently".
Staff at the museum identified the coin as follows: "Gratian, Obverse depicts Gloria Novi Saeculi Commemorating the start of a glorius new era for Rome. Date 364-75 AD."
In the Summer of 367 AD the Emperor Valentinian, father of Gratian was unwell raising concerns over succession. On his recovery he nominated young Gratian as his Co-Emperor at the age of 8. Valentinian died on 17 November 375 leaving Gratian as the senior Emperor of the Western Empire even though he was still a teenager. Valentinian II half brother of Gratian because his junior partner aged 4.
Gratian was deserted by his army during the rebellion of the general Magnus Maximus and fled to Lugdunum, modern day Lyon where he was later murdered. The general Magnus Maximus usurped his position and became Emperor in 383.
