Anonymous Follis, class G (Romanus IV Diogenes)...

[ewomack]

In my little over a year of Byzantine collecting, I had not stumbled across an Anonymous Follis for a decent price with what I considered a decent portrait of Christ. I expected to first pick up a Class A and move my way up the alphabet of classes, but this Class G's obverse stuck out to me, so I started there instead. If only the portrait of Mary on the reverse didn't have the wear on it, but, especially for a Byzantine, it's fairly acceptable. The historical element of these coins fascinates me because of the history of iconoclasm within Byzantium a few centuries prior to this type's appearance. The iconodules clearly won that messy and sometimes violent battle, as this coin demonstrates. It also helps manifest the intriguing and still largely unappreciated history of a fascinating and highly religious empire, complete with all of its ensuing pros and cons. As I've said before, I'm not a particularly religious person, but I find coins like this an endless source of interest and fascination.


Romanus IV Diogenes AD (1068-1071); Constantinople; Æ Anonymous Follis, Class G, Obv: IC-XC to left and right of bust of Christ, nimbate, facing, right hand raised, scroll in left, all within border of large dots; Rev: MP-ΘV to left and right of Mary, nimbate, ands raised, all inside border of large dots; 26-28 mm. 10.2 gm.; Sear 1867

[voulgaroktonou]

7 minutes ago, ewomack said:

In my little over a year of Byzantine collecting, I had not stumbled across an Anonymous Follis for a decent price with what I considered a decent portrait of Christ. I expected to first pick up a Class A and move my way up the alphabet of classes, but this Class G's obverse stuck out to me, so I started there instead. If only the portrait of Mary on the reverse didn't have the wear on it, but, especially for a Byzantine, it's fairly acceptable. The historical element of these coins fascinates me because of the history of iconoclasm within Byzantium a few centuries prior to this type's appearance. The iconodules clearly won that messy and sometimes violent battle, as this coin demonstrates. It also helps manifest the intriguing and still largely unappreciated history of a fascinating and highly religious empire, complete with all of its ensuing pros and cons. As I've said before, I'm not a particularly religious person, but I find coins like this an endless source of interest and fascination.

You've got a beautiful example here. Thanks for sharing it! Here's one of my examples of the type. A bit more wear than I normally like, but wonderful green patina to which my photo does not do justice.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Both are lovely examples.  I think I have an Allen Berman junk box version, circa 1994.

[Al Kowsky]

2 hours ago, ewomack said:

In my little over a year of Byzantine collecting, I had not stumbled across an Anonymous Follis for a decent price with what I considered a decent portrait of Christ. I expected to first pick up a Class A and move my way up the alphabet of classes, but this Class G's obverse stuck out to me, so I started there instead. If only the portrait of Mary on the reverse didn't have the wear on it, but, especially for a Byzantine, it's fairly acceptable. The historical element of these coins fascinates me because of the history of iconoclasm within Byzantium a few centuries prior to this type's appearance. The iconodules clearly won that messy and sometimes violent battle, as this coin demonstrates. It also helps manifest the intriguing and still largely unappreciated history of a fascinating and highly religious empire, complete with all of its ensuing pros and cons. As I've said before, I'm not a particularly religious person, but I find coins like this an endless source of interest and fascination.


Romanus IV Diogenes AD (1068-1071); Constantinople; Æ Anonymous Follis, Class G, Obv: IC-XC to left and right of bust of Christ, nimbate, facing, right hand raised, scroll in left, all within border of large dots; Rev: MP-ΘV to left and right of Mary, nimbate, ands raised, all inside border of large dots; 26-28 mm. 10.2 gm.; Sear 1867

Congrats on scoring a great looking coin ☺️! Everything about this coin looks right; fine engraving, well-centered strong strike, uniform attractive patina, & great overall eye appeal 😉.

[robinjojo]

That OP coin is a dandy!  

This is my best Class G follis, purchased back in the early 1990s.

Romanus IV, follis,  Class G, Virgin Orans. 1068-71.

11.1 grams

[Simon]

Here is mine, still traveling so no data but its pretty.

 

[Al Kowsky]

4 hours ago, Simon said:

Here is mine, still traveling so no data but its pretty.

 

Lovely coin with great eye appeal ☺️! Collectors who think Byzantine coins are crude & ugly should take a close look at the gems posted on this thread 🤨. Byzantine portraits are not veristic or realistic in any way, they are a refined form of abstraction that needs clear vision & an open mind to appreciate.

[ewomack]

Thank you for all of the comments and for sharing all of the great examples of this type. I'm glad that the coin I picked up is a decent example, because I'm never really sure with Byzantines. I almost didn't buy it because of the wear on Mary's head on the reverse. The obverse does look amazing in hand, so I'm not regretting adding it to my pile.

What I do regret is not going to the local ancient coin club's meeting some months ago. The presentation that night was called "depictions of Jesus on Byzantine coins" and, being on a weeknight, I just felt too tired to go. I wish I had dragged myself there. Oh well, next time they present something interesting I will drag myself there.

Is there a definitive source on the Anonymous Folles? Sear and Sayles have sections in their books on them, though somewhat brief. I'm curious if other sources exist, because they are very fascinating coins.

[voulgaroktonou]

12 hours ago, ewomack said:

s there a definitive source on the Anonymous Folles? Sear and Sayles have sections in their books on them, though somewhat brief. I'm curious if other sources exist, because they are very fascinating coins.

In 1928 Alfred Bellinger wrote a small monograph "The anonymous Byzantine bronze coinage", published as No. 35 in the ANS Numismatic Notes and Monographs series. However, Grierson's 1982 publication Byzantine Coins also has a good summary of the series on pp. 204-210.

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Also

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ByzAnon/index.html

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

The Dunbarton Oaks volumes are also available for pdf download. I found them the clunky way, through google books and downloaded each volume.

[ewomack]

Thanks for the suggestions for sources! I did recently secure a larger-than-I-expected copy of the Grierson book. Just freshly arrived, I have yet to begin to read it.

I will also have to explore the ANS Monogram series - I have seen the Bellinger article sited elsewhere, so this recent citation makes it even more interesting.

The link to augustuscoins is also very helpful as well. I'll give that a good read.

I would also love to have physical copies of the Dumbarton Oaks books, but they come at quite the premium. So perhaps I'll deal with the digital versions for now.