Justin I Æ Follis, Constantinople

[ewomack]

Justin I seems like another Byzantine Emperor difficult to find with a semi-decent portrait. The one below looked decent enough for me. It came with a large and surprisingly thick and chunky planchet of varying thickness. One look at the reverse made me wonder what happened here. It appears that the reverse maybe retracted inwards during striking, or maybe very soon after? The "A" of the officina appears below the left leg of the "M," where it usually appears directly between the legs. The leg itself above the "A" also looks fairly mangled. Also, the "C" of "CON" at the bottom looks like it would have appeared skewed had it survived. Has anyone seem a reverse anything like this before?

Justin I (518-527), Æ follis- 17,95 grams- 31 mm, Constantinople mint; Obv: DN IVSTINVS PP AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; rev: Large M, below, A; *-* in fields, above cross, CON in exergue; Sear 62; MIB 11

As for Justin I himself, all I've really read about him is that he "set the stage for Justinian I." Historians seem to agree that he really remains unmemorable overall besides that one fact.

[sand]

Nice Justin I portrait. An interesting coin. I haven't noticed many Byzantine coins, with a portrait with a heavenward gaze. Perhaps the coin was double struck, and perhaps the reverse die moved, between the 2 strikes.

[O-Towner]

Nice coin with the obverse bust accompanied by a "cross rising from front of diadem" which you can just make out in the photo. Doubt it's an eyes to heaven obverse, just a bit rotated. Definitely SB 62

Edited March 19 by O-Towner

[ewomack]

Yes, I've never seen a reference to an "eyes to heaven" Justin I. I don't think I photographed it in the right configuration, either, so I probably skewed the effect. It's a nice thought, though. 😁

That coin still has one of the strangest reverses I've ever seen.

Now if I could only find a similarly nice portrait for Anastasius I in an affordable range.

 

[Valentinian]

On 3/18/2023 at 4:39 PM, O-Towner said:

Nice coin with the obverse bust accompanied by a "cross rising from front of diadem" which you can just make out in the photo.

If you want to see Byzantine coins with this type of detail, I cataloged a collection of them and put them on-line here:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ByzCross/Cross-above-head.html

Here is my favorite--a really outstanding example:



Justin I. Antioch. Sear 100.
30 mm. 17.98 grams. 6:00.
Bold cross above head.
Officina Δ.
Higher than usual relief on the portrait.

[Al Kowsky]

On 3/17/2023 at 6:33 PM, ewomack said:

Justin I seems like another Byzantine Emperor difficult to find with a semi-decent portrait. The one below looked decent enough for me. It came with a large and surprisingly thick and chunky planchet of varying thickness. One look at the reverse made me wonder what happened here. It appears that the reverse maybe retracted inwards during striking, or maybe very soon after? The "A" of the officina appears below the left leg of the "M," where it usually appears directly between the legs. The leg itself above the "A" also looks fairly mangled. Also, the "C" of "CON" at the bottom looks like it would have appeared skewed had it survived. Has anyone seem a reverse anything like this before?

Justin I (518-527), Æ follis- 17,95 grams- 31 mm, Constantinople mint; Obv: DN IVSTINVS PP AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; rev: Large M, below, A; *-* in fields, above cross, CON in exergue; Sear 62; MIB 11

As for Justin I himself, all I've really read about him is that he "set the stage for Justinian I." Historians seem to agree that he really remains unmemorable overall besides that one fact.

Nice score on the 40 nummi bronze ☺️. Justin I lived to be 77 years old 😮, which is remarkable for that time. Even more incredible, his predecessor Anastasius lived to be 87 years old 😲! Pictured below is a 40 nummi bronze issued by Anastasius, not as nice as your example 😉.