A Little Squashy Faced

[Egry]

So I’ve decided to continue progressing my Ancient Roman collection through to the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) up until the last emperor Constantine XI, and the Ottomans conquered Constantinople.  
 

This is an ambitious undertaking and will likely take the rest of my life to complete. Over the years my focus has been on what we would call the Imperial Roman rulers, wives, mistresses, etc. so I only had about under 10 Byzantine coins in my collection. 
 

Here is my lates addition to this series, A solidus of Justin. a bit squashy faced but no graffiti which seems harder than you think to find. 
 

Would like to hear your thoughts. Would the squashy face turn you away from this coin?
 

 

 

 Flavius Iustinus, Byzantine Emperor of the Justinian Dynasty 518-527 AD, Gold Solidus (4.48g, 20mm), Constantinople mint circa 519-527 AD. Obverse: Pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Justin I facing forward, head turned slightly to the right, wielding spear and shield; his weapon extends behind and his shield, which is decorated with a horseman motif, rests on his left shoulder, legend surrounds, “DN IVSTINVS P P AVC”. Reverse: Male Angel stands facing forward, holding long linear cross in his right hand and Globus Cruciger in his left; star within right field, mintmark “CONOB” in exergue, legend surrounds, “VICTORIA AVCCC S”. Sear-56; DOC-2b. An impressive piece of Justin I, perfectly centred and in quite neat style – the appeal only bolstered by a fortunate absence of graffiti, minor areas of weakness, otherwise Extremely Fine. 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

An admirable goal. It might be tough to get each ruler including the very short lived emperors but it's worth a try. It's amazing that the Byzantine Empire lasted more than 1,000 years.

[Severus Alexander]

20 hours ago, Egry said:

Would the squashy face turn you away from this coin?

For me it would depend entirely on the price.  I do think one should get a significant discount, as I did on this Constans II due to the flan flaw on the rev:

I don't do gold much due to high cost, the coin has to be on the low end or a super bargain.  Here's another Byzantine gold coin I have, a tremissis of Justinian II:

 

 

I hope you enjoy the new project.  I certainly have!  I'm pretty close to getting all the emperors I consider essential and reasonably obtainable.  Constantine XI is not on that list, sadly!

[Zimm]

Definitely a very ambitious goal, but with a colossal budget and years of patience it might be doable (Coins of Constantine XI for example can cost over 10000€ for even a tiny 1/8 stavraton. Also emperors like Matthew Kantakouzenos are extremely rare with only a few coins known). I‘m personally only focusing on the more affordable emperors for my "emperor type set".
 

Personally I don‘t mind weird-looking portraits. Sure, I‘d rather have a more realistic one, but squashed faces have a charm of their own.

Best of luck with the project!

Edited June 1, 2022 by Zimm

[robinjojo]

Byzantine portraiture is crudely done, compared to the portraits of Greek coins, such as those of Syracuse, but they reflect their times.  Taking that into account I am happy to acquire Byzantine coins, especially bronzes, which offer a range of styles and varieties.  

The posted coins are fine examples.  

 

 

 

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

On 6/2/2022 at 1:34 PM, robinjojo said:

Byzantine portraiture is crudely done, compared to the portraits of Greek coins, such as those of Syracuse, but they reflect their times.  Taking that into account I am happy to acquire Byzantine coins, especially bronzes, which offer a range of styles and varieties.  

The posted coins are fine examples.  

 

 

 

Byzantine portraiture is both greek and Syracusan! 

[Hrefn]

It is my impression that really sharp solidi of Justin I are not easy to find.  I have owned this coin for many years, and I have long desired a bit sharper example.  You can see some wear on the forehead, which is in fairly high relief.     

Which lead me to acquiring this coin.   From Dix Noonan Webb Auction 13 apr 2022 lot #1483.   With an old collectors tag, purchased from Westcountry Coins, July 1972, cost OB.X    (Whatever amount that was.)        

   

I was so intent on the portrait, that I did not really register the completely different reverse type until the coin was in hand.  Justin I was the first emperor to abandon the Nike or Victory, and substitute a facing angel.   Now I have to keep both coins.

Here are some solidi of Justin and his nephew Justinian, just because I think the pictures are beautiful.

I wish my paycheck looked like this   

 

                                

[Egry]

1 hour ago, Hrefn said:

It is my impression that really sharp solidi of Justin I are not easy to find.  I have owned this coin for many years, and I have long desired a bit sharper example.  You can see some wear on the forehead, which is in fairly high relief.     

Which lead me to acquiring this coin.   From Dix Noonan Webb Auction 13 apr 2022 lot #1483.   With an old collectors tag, purchased from Westcountry Coins, July 1972, cost OB.X    (Whatever amount that was.)        

   

I was so intent on the portrait, that I did not really register the completely different reverse type until the coin was in hand.  Justin I was the first emperor to abandon the Nike or Victory, and substitute a facing angel.   Now I have to keep both coins.

Here are some solidi of Justin and his nephew Justinian, just because I think the pictures are beautiful.

I wish my paycheck looked like this   

 

                                

I really agree with you about the difficulty of finding a sharp Justin portrait, main reason why I didn’t hesitate to much when I picked mine up.

In saying that it appear you were successful in finding a nice portrait. Thanks for sharing.

[robinjojo]

Here's my "Rocky Marciano" Justin I solidus:

4.22 grams

 

[Steve]

Sweet!! ... Egry, congrats on buying that mushy-face winner (the coin works "and" it is always gonna be your go-to whenever squishy-faced threads pop-up!!)

😜

 

Ummm, I didn't let the coin-leprosy stop me from snagging this mushy-faced winner! (just some bad coin-acne)

 

EGYPT, Alexandria. Julia Mamaea. Augusta (below)

BI Tetradrachm

222-235 AD

Dated RY 11 of Severus Alexander (AD 231/2)

Diameter: 23 mm

Weight: 12.92 grams

Obverse: Diademed and draped bust of Julia Mamaea right

Reverse: Draped bust of Serapis right, wearing calathus; L A (date) behind, palm before

Reference: Köln 2526; Dattari (Savio) 4511; K&G 64.74; Emmett 3224

Other: 12h … sweet brown patina.

Ex-stevex6

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Steve

[Al Kowsky]

Many of the later Byzantine emperors showed a mark improvement in portraiture, such as the coinage of Heraclius. The portraits are engraved with more skill although they still look like caricatures. The 3 coin portraits below are of Heraclius & his sons, AD 613-641.

[robinjojo]

Very nice coins, Al!