The Victoriatus is named after the image on its reverse, which always shows the goddess Victoria crowning a trophy. The obverse bears the head of the major Roman god Jupiter.
The Romans usde the victoriatus for payments in foreign territories. Thus, in contrast to the denarius, it bore no indication of value; its price was equivalent to the value of its silver. Victoriati circulated mainly in remote Italian areas, and in Illyria (the Balkan Peninsula), where they were much liked as trade coins and even imitated.