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Byzantine Coins
The coins listed under the Byzantine heading begin
with the Byzantine coins produced during the rule of Anastasius I, from 491 A.D. - 518
A.D. While the coinage of the Byzantine empire may at first look crude it
actually has a charm of it's own and has been found to show images of spiritual
abstraction rather than what had been seen as emotionless crude images. The
collecting of Byzantine coins can be very interesting and rewarding.
| (BG0001) Byzantine, Heraclius, 5 Oct. 610 A.D. - 11 Jan.
641 A.D. |
| AV Solidus |
| Obv. - da NN hERACLIyS. ET. hERA. CONST. PP.
AVG., Facing busts of Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine. |
| Rev. - VICTORIA AVEy B, Cross
potent on three steps.
CONOB in exergue. |
| Comments: 4.47 gm., minted in Constantinople |
| Attribution: Sear Byzantine Coins - 737 |
| (BG0002) Byzantine, Justinian I, 1 Aug. 527 A.D. - 14 Nov.
565 A.D. |
| AV Tremissis |
| Obv. - DN. IVSTINIANVS PP. AVG.,
Diademed, draped and
cuirassed bust right. |
| Rev.- VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM, Victory advancing right. CONOB
in exergue. |
| Comments: 1.48 gm., minted in Constantinople. |
| Attribution: Sear Byzantine Coins - 145 |
| (BB0003) Byzantine, Justinian I, 1 Aug. 527 A.D. - 14 Nov.
565 A.D. |
| AE Follis |
| Obv. - D. N. IVSTINIANVS PP. AVG.,
Helmeted and
cuirassed
bust facing, holing globus cruciger and shield; to right, cross. |
| Rev. - Large M between ANNO and numerals representing the
regnal year; above, cross; beneath, officina letter. In
exergue: NIK. (This
coin was minted in Nicomedia.) |
| Comments: Justinian I reclaimed North Africa from the
Vandals, liberated Italy from the Goths, and gained a foothold in Spain
during his reign. He was responsible for the building of the great church of
Sophia, a remarkable architectural achievement, which is still one of the
great landmarks of modern Istanbul. The reign of Justinian I would be looked
back upon as a Golden Age. |
| Attribution: Sear Byzantine Coins - 201 |
| (BB0006) Byzantine, Justin II, 15 Nov. 565 A.D. - 5 Oct.
578 A.D. |
| AE Pentanummium |
| Obv. - Monogram. |
| Rev. - Large E, letter to right. |
| Comments: Minted in Nicomedia. Justin II was the nephew
of Justinian I, he was selected as Justinian's successor prior to the death
of Justinian. His uncle's ambitious policies and conquests proved to
be to much for Justin, both financially and logistically. Justin II was not
as successful a ruler as his uncle and within five years most of Italy was
again in the hands of the Lombards, and the Visigoths had mounted a
successful campaign to take back that portion of Spain which Justinian I had
rested from them. As Justin became mentally ill, he appointed Tiberius,
Count of the Excubitors, as Caesar in 574 A.D. In 578 A.D., when Justin's
condition worsened, Tiberius was raised to the rank of Augustus and
co-emperor. Shortly afterward Justin died. |
| Attribution: Sear Byzantine Coins -
371 |
| (BB0004) Byzantine, Leo VI, 886-912 A.D. |
| AE Follis |
| Obv. - +LEON bASILEVS ROM'.,
Bust of Leo VI facing, with
short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding
akakia in left hand. |
| Rev. - +LEON/EN O(with line through it)EO bA/SILEVS
R/OMEON, in four lines. |
| Comments: Minted in Constantinople. Leo VI was a scholar
and known as "the wise" or "the philosopher". He completed the "Basilica" a
legal work started by Basil, it was written in Greek and became the basis
for law as practiced in the medieval Empire. |
| Attribution: Sear - 1729 |
| (BB0005) Byzantine, Leo VI, 886-912 A.D. |
| AE Follis |
| Obv. - +LEON bASILEVS ROM'.,
Bust of Leo VI facing, with
short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding
akakia in left hand. |
| Rev. - +LEON/EN O(with line through it)EO bA/SILEVS
R/OMEON, in four lines. |
| Comments: Minted in Constantinople. Leo VI was a scholar
and known as "the wise" or "the philosopher". He completed the "Basilica" a
legal work started by Basil, it was written in Greek and became the basis
for law as practiced in the medieval Empire. |
| Attribution: Sear - 1729 |
| (BB0002) Byzantine, Andronicus I, September, 1183 - 12
September, 1185 A.D. |
| Billon
aspron trachy |
| Obv. - The Virgin standing facing on dais,
nimbate and
wearing pallium and maphorium; she holds before her
nimbate head of the
infant Christ facing; to left MP, to right OV (O has line through center of
it), both with line over the letters. |
| Rev. - On right Christ, bearded and with
nimbus cruciger
and Andronicus, with forked beard, on left, both standing facing; Christ
wears pallium and colobium, holds book of Gospels in his left hand, and with
his right crowns the emperor, who wears divitision and
loros, and holds
labarum and
globus cruciger. Between their heads IC (with line over it); to
right XC (with line over it). |
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| Attribution: Sear Byzantine Coins - 1985 |
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