Some historians believe that by imitating the gold coins of the Roman emperors, the Visigothic kings recognized the emperor's monopoly on gold coinage. In fact, the imitation of Roman coins had essentially economic reasons: They circulated all over the Roman Empire and were well-known and trusted. Hence the Visigoths could expect their own coins to be equally popular, as long as they showed distinctive Roman designs. This Visigothic issue is a copy of a tremissis of Libius Severus (461-466). It shows a crude bust of the emperor on the obverse, and a no more skillfully done Victory on the reverse.