The epic Byzantine portrait thread

[Severus Alexander]

Following on @CPK's epic Roman portrait thread, I hereby announce its epic Byzantine successor!

The rules are simple. Sticking to the schedule below, post your best/favourite/most interesting/funniest/weirdest portraits of each Byzantine personality listed for each date. The start time on each date is:

12 noon Pacific Daylight Time = 3pm Eastern Daylight Time = 8pm British Summer Time = 9pm Central European Summer Time

If you have multiple interesting portraits for a particular person, great! Post 'em all, preferably with a comment explaining why you think each portrait deserves to be in the thread. (Sometimes that will be: it's my only one!) That said, try not to be indiscriminate. We know you love each and every one of your coins, but the focus of the thread is portraits (not types or denominations, for example).

Exception: for rare personalities, sometimes it's an achievement just to get a coin with their name on it (e.g. Artavasdus). If that's the way you've checked the person off your list, please go ahead and post that coin.

Here's the schedule, in two parts:

A couple details to note about the schedule:

A complication arises with co-emperors. When we get to Basil II, for example, do we start posting him with Nic II Phocas, with whom he was co-(but junior)-emperor? Or do we wait until he’s senior emperor? In the schedule above I’ve gone with the following approach: on coins issued under Nic II it’s OK to post Basil II coins with him as junior emperor, but not Basil II coins from his reign as senior emperor. (Please do your due diligence on this, but don't worry overmuch if you make a mistake... one of our Byzantine experts will be happy to fix your chronology!)

There was also the question of how to handle the period of the anonymous folles in the 11th century, where several portraits are only available in gold, and so outside the scope of many collections. My solution here was to glom them together into two large groups first, excluding the anonymous folles, and then to have a slot devoted entirely to the anonymous folles, on August 8th.

Prizes:

To encourage participation I'm offering some prize coins, to be awarded by a draw. You get a ballot for each distinct listed personality you post a portrait of, with a maximum of 30 ballots per person. (There are around 150 personalities in the list.) Some coins will give you multiple ballots, if they portray multiple people. On the other hand, posting 5 coins of the same person only gets you 1 ballot. No ballots will be awarded for names only, a portrait is required (even for the super rare ones). Note that you'll only get a ballot if your post follows the rules... so if you post the new emperor before the 3pm switch, you won't get a ballot for that one! You've been forewarned. 😁

The first two draws will be from all the ballots. The third draw will include only those participants who accumulated fewer than 10 ballots. (That gives novice collectors more of a chance to win something.) Only Numisforums members with at least 50 posts outside this thread (as of Sep. 15) will qualify for the draw.

Note for our more expert collectors: you may assign your prize to another member, e.g. a novice, or you can ask me to re-draw from the fewer-than-ten pool of ballots... so please don't hesitate to post! You won't be sapping someone else's opportunity.

There will be three draws, for first choice, second choice, and third choice.  Each of the three prize coins has a portrait worth wanting. Here they are in chronological order.

First, a Constantinople year 5 follis of Maurice Tiberius, with a rather nice style portrait:

Also this rather silly looking Heraclius portrait on a year 2 follis from Cyzicus. I call this style "goggles Heraclius":

Finally, and perhaps most exciting, is this silver basilikon of Andronicus II with Michael IX. While it's partly flat struck, it has a very nice full-length portrait of Andronicus:

There you have it! I hope you enjoy the thread. Very shortly, at 3pm today (June 1st), the first 48-hour window will open and you can start posting your favourite Anastasius portraits!  At 3pm Eastern on Saturday we'll switch to Justin I, including coins showing Justin & Justinian as joint emperors. And so on...

Edited June 1, 2023 by Severus Alexander

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Turning over a New Leaf....

My favorite:

Anastasius, 491-518 A.D.

Type: Large AE Follis, 39 mm 19 grams

Obverse: DN ANASTASIVS PP AVG, Diademed draped and Cuirassed bust right, star on right shoulder (rare)

Reverse: Large M, Epsilon below. Cross above M, star in left field, Mintmark CON 

[mc9]

My favorite portraits, from each metal sort 1 :

D N ANASTASIVS P P AVC : pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right
VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM // CONOB : Victory advancing to right, head to left, holding wreath and globus cruciger; star in right field
Tremissis, Constantinople, A.D.491-518, Sear-8

 

D N ANASTASIVS P P AVG. Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
+ AROMAD ✷ MINVTA. Monogram of Theodoric.
Quarter Siliqua, Sirmium, A.D. 491-518, Cf. Demo 72

 

Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Monogram of Anastasius.
Æ Nummus, Constantinople, A.D.491-498, Sear 13

 

[Valentinian]

Here are two coins of Anastasius.
The first is 20 mm and 5.09 grams, from Nicomedia, Sear 41. "NI" across the cross identifies Nicomedia.

The second is a small-module pre-second-reform "M" of Constantinople.
Only 25 mm and 3.58 grams.
Sear 16

[wittwolff]

The big coinage reformer:

[Simon]

 

This is my best portrait of Anastasius, small gold. I put together a small collection of his coinage pre reform and post, this one was him looking his best. 

 

Anastasius I AV Tremissis. Constantinople, AD 491-518. D N ANASTASIVS P P AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right / VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM, Victory advancing right, head to left, holding wreath and globus cruciger; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. MIBE 13; DOC 10; Sear 8. 1.49g, 15mm, 4h.
Near Extremely Fine.
From the collection of Z.P., Austria.

One other, again a cool portrait. 

Silver quarter siliqua, Demo 77 var. (legend variations), VF+, centered, toned, edge bend, edge chips, Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) mint, weight 0.820g, maximum diameter 16.2mm, die axis 180^o, c. 491 - 504 A.D.; obverse D N ANASTASIVS P AV (N's inverted, A's appearing as Λ), diademed and cuirassed bust of Anastasius right; reverse * V INVICTA + A ROMANI (first N inverted, A's appearing as Λ),  monogram of Theodoric, cross above, star below; ex Roma Numismatics;

Edited June 1, 2023 by Simon

[ominus1]

..welp i just retook this pic of Justin ll and Sophia...plus i have two more Byzantine coins to show ^^

 

this remarkable piece comes in at 30mm and 11.70gms..

[Al Kowsky]

[Severus Alexander]

2 hours ago, ominus1 said:

..welp i just retook this pic of Justin ll and Sophia...plus i have two more Byzantine coins to show ^^

Aha! Excellent! The first rule breaker!! 👮‍♂️🚓🚨

If you check the schedule, @ominus1, you'll see that Justin II and Sophia aren't to be posted until Wed. June 7th (starting at 3pm Eastern time)!  Tsk, tsk!!

(That is one ticked off looking Constantinopolis, no? I'm dearly hoping that @DonnaML is OK with me using the reverse of her awesome Theodosius siliqua for this purpose... pretty please, Donna? I gotta have some fun, right?!?)

(Thanks, @ominus1 buddy, I really wanted to post this... 😄)

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Anastasius I - 498-517 - AE Follis - Constantinople 33mm., 17.63g partially uncleaned  S 19.  Unknown officina.

Portrait with 'tusk' (die problem?).

 

Interestingly, the 'tusk' seems to be pretty darn similar, if not an exact match, to Orange Julius' example.  Looking at it in person, the tusk is more narrow than suggested by the photograph.

[DonnaML]

7 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

 

 

(That is one ticked off looking Constantinopolis, no? I'm dearly hoping that @DonnaML is OK with me using the reverse of her awesome Theodosius siliqua for this purpose... pretty please, Donna? I gotta have some fun, right?!?)

 

Absolutely! Use her whenever you like. She could give Caracalla a run for his money in the all-time Roman scowl competition.

Edited June 2, 2023 by DonnaML

[ominus1]

48 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

check the schedule

 

[sand]

There are some nice and interesting Anastasius I coins in this thread. Here's my Anastasius I 40 nummi follis. The obverse design looks very similar to previous coins of the Roman Empire, with a portrait of the Emperor facing to the right. However, the reverse design is a new concept, with a large "M" meaning "40" in Greek. Similar to previous bronze coins of the late Roman Empire, the portrait of the Emperor seems very stylized, and somewhat crude, although it's difficult to tell, from my worn example. As far as I know, Anastasius I was a good Emperor. He reformed the bronze coinage, and he managed the finances so well, that by the end of his reign, there was a huge amount of wealth in the treasury. Perhaps 1 reason, why he was such a good Emperor, was that, he didn't inherit the throne. Instead, he was chosen by the wife of Zeno, the previous Eastern Roman Emperor. There is plenty of debate about, where to draw the line, between the end of the "Eastern Roman Empire" and the beginning of the "Byzantine Empire". I like to think of the Byzantine Empire as the Eastern Roman Empire, and I sometimes call it that. However, I usually call it the "Byzantine Empire" starting when Anastasius I reformed the bronze coinage in 498 AD. By 498 AD, the only Roman bronze coins in circulation, except perhaps for a few rare exceptions, were tiny 1 nummus bronze coins, which inflation had shrunk to approximately 10 mm in diameter and 1 gram in weight. In 498 AD, Anastasius I created larger bronze coins, with the denominations written on the reverse : 40 nummi coins, 20 nummi coins, 10 nummi coins, and 5 nummi coins. After 498 AD, Anastasius I didn't mint any 1 nummus coins, according to Sear's book. However, later Emperors Justinian I, Justin II, Maurice Tiberius, and Heraclius minted some 1 nummus coins. Other bronze denominations were sometimes minted by Emperors after Anastasius I, such as 12 nummi, 6 nummi, 3 nummi, and 2 nummi. The 40 nummi bronze coin is called the "follis" by present day numismatists.

Anastasius I AE 40 Nummi Follis Large Module. 512 AD To 518 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 19. Diameter 32.0 mm. Weight 15.33 grams. Obverse : Anastasius I Bust Facing Right. Reverse : Large M Greek For 40 Mint "CON" In Exergue Officina A Under Large M.

Edited June 2, 2023 by sand

[Rand]

The period of Anastasius is my soft spot.

This period from 491 to 518 was a historical transition shaping Europe. Anastasius himself was a capable statesman surviving multiple perils, but the period witnessed several other personalities of grand political scale:

• Theodoric the Great, the king of Ostrogoths, took Italy from Odovacer and later controlled the Visigothic Kingdom, briefly uniting the Goths. He ruled with wisdom and generally had a good relationship with native Romans.
• Clovis, the King of Franks, united the Frankish tribes and had a significant role in the domination of Chalcenoian Christianity over Arians in the West. His early future was uncertain, being a young chief of Salian Franks in modern Belgium and northern France. He had to be on the move throughout his life. This is reflected in the period's fascinating but poorly understood Frankish coins - coins of Clovis and his four sons who ruled different parts of Clovis's realm after his death (likely 511). 
• Gundobad, the Burgundian king, patrician of Rome, and nephew of Ricimer, had to challenge his brothers for the Kingdom: Chilperic II, who ruled from Valence, south of France and died 493, and Godegisel, who ruled from Geneva, died 501. Gundobad had little quiet time leading multiple companies before leaving his Kingdom to his son Sigismund in 516.
• Visigoths were rather misfortunate with the loss of Toulouse to Francs and the death of Alaric II in 507, and controversial Gesalec rule from 507 to 511, until Theodoric's interference on behalf of the young Amalaric (his grandson and son of Alaric II).

There is much to learn about attributing their coins to rulers, mints and periods. All these rulers acknowledged the supreme (even if nominal) authority of the Roman Emperor in Constantinople by putting his name on gold and silver coins. Other people, including Gepids, possibly Turungians and Allemani, contributed to the minting. This makes them interesting despite the limited variety of types.

 

Solidus, Constantinople mint. Can be dated rather confidently to Sept 492-493 based on die studies. 

Numismad. Auction 6. 28/01/2023

 

Semissis, Constantinople mint, 492-507. 

Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung. Auction 253. 05/03/2018. From the collection of a Munich doctor, acquired between the 1960s and late 1990s.

 

Tremissis, Constantinople mint, 492-518. 

Roma Numismatics Limited. Auction 12. 29/09/2016

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Rand

[Alexios]

Anastasius AE Follis

Minted: 491 - 507 AD, at the Constantinople Mint

Weight: 8.91g, Diameter: 25.0mm, Axis: 6H

Obverse: D N ANASTASIVS P P AVG,
Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right

Reverse: -,
Large M with star either side, cross above

Exergue: CON
 

 

---

Reference: SBCV 15

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

3 hours ago, Rand said:

The period of Anastasius is my soft spot.

This period from 491 to 518 was a historical transition shaping Europe. Anastasius himself was a capable statesman surviving multiple perils, but the period witnessed several other personalities of grand political scale:

• Theodoric the Great, the king of Ostrogoths, took Italy from Odovacer and later controlled the Visigothic Kingdom, briefly uniting the Goths. He ruled with wisdom and generally had a good relationship with native Romans.
• Clovis, the King of Franks, united the Frankish tribes and had a significant role in the domination of Chalcenoian Christianity over Arians in the West. His early future was uncertain, being a young chief of Salian Franks in modern Belgium and northern France. He had to be on the move throughout his life. This is reflected in the period's fascinating but poorly understood Frankish coins - coins of Clovis and his four sons who ruled different parts of Clovis's realm after his death (likely 511). 
• Gundobad, the Burgundian king, patrician of Rome, and nephew of Ricimer, had to challenge his brothers for the Kingdom: Chilperic II, who ruled from Valence, south of France and died 493, and Godegisel, who ruled from Geneva, died 501. Gundobad had little quiet time leading multiple companies before leaving his Kingdom to his son Sigismund in 516.
• Visigoths were rather misfortunate with the loss of Toulouse to Francs and the death of Alaric II in 507, and controversial Gesalec rule from 507 to 511, until Theodoric's interference on behalf of the young Amalaric (his grandson and son of Alaric II).

There is much to learn about attributing their coins to rulers, mints and periods. All these rulers acknowledged the supreme (even if nominal) authority of the Roman Emperor in Constantinople by putting his name on gold and silver coins. Other people, including Gepids, possibly Turungians and Allemani, contributed to the minting. This makes them interesting despite the limited variety of types.

 

Solidus, Constantinople mint. Can be dated rather confidently to Sept 492-493 based on die studies. 

Numismad. Auction 6. 28/01/2023

 

Semissis, Constantinople mint, 492-507. 

Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung. Auction 253. 05/03/2018. From the collection of a Munich doctor, acquired between the 1960s and late 1990s.

 

Tremissis, Constantinople mint, 492-518. 

Roma Numismatics Limited. Auction 12. 29/09/2016

 

 

Nice gold. Anastasius, as I pointed out in my earlier article about his coinage reforms on Coin Talk, left 28 million solidi in the treasury upon his death. Hence there was no risk of default and/or need to extend the debt limit at that time.

[Pellinore]

Two Anastasius portraits: 

3529. Byzantine Empire, Anastasius, Follis, undated but 512-517. Mint Constantinopel, officina B. Obv. Laureate bust r. DNANASTA/ SIVSPPAVG. Rev. Large M under a cross and between two stars, B between ‘legs’, CON in exergue. 38 mm, 17.77 gr.

3536. Byzantine Empire, Anastasius, Follis 498-518, post-reform small module. Mint Constantinople. Obv. Laureate bust r. DNANASTA/ SIVSPPAVG. Rev. Large M under a cross, CON in exergue. 21.5 mm, 10.40 gr. 

Gepid/ Ostrogothic imitations of Anastasius. See the interesting article annex catalogue The "Sirmium group". About the so-called Gepids siliquae. With a specific catalogue. – 2nd corrected and much extended edition by Alain Gennari on Academia. 

AR partial siliquae, Gepids = Ostrogoths, Sirmium 508-528. Broken (as often). Resp. cf. #103 and #43 in the catalogue of Gennari.

 

[Hrefn]

The Germanic kingdoms in the West continued to strike high quality gold featuring the portrait of the emperor.  Here are four solidi of Anastasius.  From left to right, the first is a coin of the Imperial mint at Constantinople.  There is a tiny die break at the corner of the emperor’s mouth.  The portrait is well engraved, and the Victory on the reverse is particularly fine.  She holds a Chi-rho rather than a cross.  Other solidi from Constantinople have either a cross or a cross-rho combination.  There is no officina letter on this coin.  The lance held by the emperor is barbed, which is unusual, but I selected this coin because the Barbarian copies tend to use a barbed lance as opposed to a leaf-shaped blade as we can see on most other Constantinople solidi.  In the exergue, CONOB.  

The second coin is an Ostrogothic coin.  It is very competently done.  The barbed lance and more definitively the COMOB in the exergue, as well as the style, point to the Ostrogothic origin.  There is a bit of wear on the portrait.

The third coin is modeled on the Ostrogothic coin, but is a bit less professionally done.  The portrait is not bad.  The celator was illiterate, leaving the crossbars off the “A”’s and inappropriately adding them to some “V”’s.  The officina letter is an A but it is probably mechanically copied from the Ostrogothic prototype.   Most likely the coin is Burgundian.  

The fourth coin is Merovingian.  The portrait is part comic book, part nightmare.  This is the face an early sixth century Gaulish farmer looked into when Frankish raiders carried off his cows and daughters.  It is the face which says good-bye to the Classical world.  

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

Both are no longer mine:

Very rare Gepid siliqua in the name of Anastasius. The reverse has yet to be concretely deciphered

Solidus of Anastasius 

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

1 minute ago, Hrefn said:

The Germanic kingdoms in the West continued to strike high quality gold featuring the portrait of the emperor.  Here are four solidi of Anastasius.  From left to right, the first is a coin of the Imperial mint at Constantinople.  There is a tiny die break at the corner of the emperor’s mouth.  The portrait is well engraved, and the Victory on the reverse is particularly fine.  She holds a Chi-rho rather than a cross.  Other solidi from Constantinople have either a cross or a cross-rho combination.  There is no officina letter on this coin.  The lance held by the emperor is barbed, which is unusual, but I selected this coin because the Barbarian copies tend to use a barbed lance as opposed to a leaf-shaped blade as we can see on most other Constantinople solidi.  In the exergue, CONOB.  

The second coin is an Ostrogothic coin.  It is very competently done.  The barbed lance and more definitively the COMOB in the exergue, as well as the style, point to the Ostrogothic origin.  There is a bit of wear on the portrait.

The third coin is modeled on the Ostrogothic coin, but is a bit less professionally done.  The portrait is not bad.  The celator was illiterate, leaving the crossbars off the “A”’s and inappropriately adding them to some “V”’s.  The officina letter is an A but it is probably mechanically copied from the Ostrogothic prototype.   Most likely the coin is Burgundian.  

The fourth coin is Merovingian.  The portrait is part comic book, part nightmare.  This is the face an early sixth century Gaulish farmer looked into when Frankish raiders carried off his cows and daughters.  It is the face which says good-bye to the Classical world.  

Lovely Merovingian example

[Rand]

8 hours ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Anastasius, as I pointed out in my earlier article about his coinage reforms on Coin Talk, left 28 million solidi in the treasury upon his death. Hence there was no risk of default and/or need to extend the debt limit at that time.

This is an impressive number, even by imperial standards. I was curious about how trustworthy the ancient politicians and their official propaganda were.

For this (but mainly for other reasons), I have been collecting records of Anastasian gold coins, gradually sorting them by dies. As Western types are of more interest, the number of the currently sorted solidi from imperial mints (Constantinople and Thessaloniki) is relatively small - 1745 solidi from 971 obverse dies.

The below is the roughest estimate, without confidence intervals, with ever-criticised uncertainty on how mints functioned, how many coins were produced from a set of dies, etc. etc., and assuming 20,000 coins produced using an obverse die:

• 1,772 predicted obverse dies = 35 million solidi using Carter’s equation. 
• 2,189 predicted obverse dies = 44 million solidi using a simplified Etsy equation (used today to save time, but so far it always gives me the same results as the full Etsy 2011 approach).

This would be the number of solidi produced over the 27-year reign. If the estimates are any accurate, 28 million solidi would be a suspiciously massive chunk of it to be true.

[Jims,Coins]

AE pentanummian – Smyrna 1971 – minted at Constantinople during the reign of Anastasia between 11 April 491 – 1 July 518. Obv. D.N.ANASTASIVS.P.P.AVG.: diad., dr. and cuir. bust r. Rev. Large E, usually containing two pellets, to r., Officina letter. BCVS #29. CBE #12 pg.62.

[Al Kowsky]

After admiring all the barbarian gold struck in the name of Anastasias posted on this thread I decided to post my example too 😊.

[Severus Alexander]

Well, I'd certainly say the thread started off with a bang! Luscious gold from no fewer than six different contributors, including several stellar portraits, plus Ostrogothic silver (which I stupidly didn't see coming, not having thought outside the box), some exceptional AEs from several different modules (with @Valentinian's Nikomedia being particularly amazing)... plus a hilarious die break!  Not to mention some serious research from @Rand. Fabulous!!

Probably my best Anastasius coin & portrait for its type is this tiny nummus:

But I also like this fairly refined style 1st reform portrait:

As well as this very square style 2nd reform portrait, from the very end of his life:

I happen to like the star-on-shoulder variety shown by @Ancient Coin Hunter and have a small subset for Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian. Here's the Anastasius:

Finally, while having failed to think of it until other posters reminded me, I do in fact have an Ostrogothic portrait of Anastasius, on this quarter siliqua from the Milan mint, time of Theoderic:

Looking forward to everyone's Justins tomorrow (June 3rd) at 3pm Eastern!

[mc9]

Justinus I : 3 more portraits from him :

Here he wears his first glasses :

D N IVSTINVS P P AVG : Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM // CONOB : Victory standing facing, holding wreath and globus cruciger; star to right
Tremissis, Constantinople, A.D. 518 - 527 , Sear 58

D N IVSTINVS P P AVG : Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Large Chi-Rho monogram between B-Є
Pentanummium, Constantinopel, AD 518-527, Sear 77

 

D N IVSTINVS P P AVG : Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Tyche seated left; Э to left; all within shrine
Pentanummium, Antioch, AD 518-527, Sear 111

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by mc9