Constantine VII Æ Follis...

[ewomack]

This might qualify as another "good enough for the type" acquisition. Most of the Constantine VII folles of this or similar types that I've seen look sandblasted or worn almost beyond recognition. This one, though again far from perfect, preserves some details, especially in the crown, the loros, and the text. Small remnants of the fingers even remain on the enormous globus cruciger, and he has some semblance of a face. On the bottom, the wear on the hand and the akakia makes it looks like the Emperor may break out into karaoke. The reverse looks fairly chopped around the edges, but the letters themselves look fairly detailed overall. It has a pretty decent consistent green patina and, again, it seemed "good enough" compared to other samples I've seen so far. This one seems to match Sommer 36.17.1.

Constantine VII (913-959);Constantinople; Æ Follis; Obv: CONST bASIL ROM, crowned bust of Constantine facing, with short beard and wearing vertical loros, holding akakia and cross on globe; Rev: CONST-EN QEO bA-SILEVS R-OMEON, legend in four lines; 25mm.,5.05g; Sommer 36.17.1, DOC 26, SB 1761

This coin also overlaps, sometimes literally, with another coin I posted recently. Constantine VII had a long, fascinating reign, mostly because he didn't rule in his own name for a large chunk of it. From 920 - 944, the "gentle usurper," Romanus I Lecapenus, ruled outright while denying Constantine VII any power. He left him alone, at least, hence the "gentle." Most usurped Byzantine Emperors fared far worse. The coin above, Sear 1761, often appears overstruck on the coin below, Sear 1760, probably because Constantine VII could finally rule on his own once Romanus I found himself deposed by his own sons (oh, those crazy Byzantines). So why not go nuts and literally stamp out the previous competition?

Romanus I Lacapenus (920 - 944); Constantinople Æ Follis; Obv: +RwMAN bAS-ILEVS Rwm’ Facing bust of Romanus I, bearded, wearing crown and jeweled chlamys, and holding labarum and globus cruciger; Rev: +RwMA/N’ENΘEwbA/SILEVSRw/MAIwN; 27mm, 8.09g, 6h; R.1886-8, Sear 1760

Please post any Constantine VII or Romanus I coins you have!

[mcwyler]

Just to prove how "good enough" yours are, here are mine. Swap? 

 

[ela126]

Wow that Romanus is good. Love it. Still need one myself. Here’s my Constantine VII, not a great flan but the portrait is nice.

[JAZ Numismatics]

2 hours ago, mcwyler said:

Just to prove how "good enough" yours are, here are mine. Swap? 

 

 

Just to prove how "good enough" yours are, here are mine. Swap? 

[Jims,Coins]

Minted at Constantinople during the reign of Constantine VII and Romanus I between Feb 914 - 919. Obv. Facing busts of Constantine VII, beardless, (on l.) and Zoe (on r.), both crowned and holding between them long patriarchal cross; Constantine wears loros, whilst his mother is clad in chlamys. Rev. +CONS/tAntiNO’/CE.ZOHbA/SILIS.RO/MEON in five lines. BCVS #1758. Provenance: Ex. Savoca ebay 2018 6.17g, 24.0mm, 6H

Minted at Constantinople during the reign of Constantine VII, Porphyrogenitus and Romanus I, Lecapenus between 20 May 921 - August 931. Obv. +IhS XPS REX REcnAntI4M*.: Christ enthroned facing, wearing nimbus cr., pallium and colobium, and raising r. hand in benediction; in l. hand, book of Gospels. Rev. ROmAn’ET XPISTOFO’ A4cc b’.: Facing busts of Romanus I, with short beard (on l.) and Christopher, beardless (on r.), both crowned, holding between them long patriarchal cross; Romanus wears loros, whilst his son is clad in chlamys. BCVS #1745. CBE #6 pg. 201.

Edited March 29 by Jims,Coins

[ewomack]

On 3/29/2024 at 7:39 AM, mcwyler said:

Just to prove how "good enough" yours are, here are mine. Swap?

That's actually not a bad Constantine VII. Yes, it's worn, but it has a mostly full portrait and some legible letters. From what I can tell, it's still a Sear 1761, and Sommer would probably classify it as a 36.17.2, which is more of a "close up" variation of the one I posted, 36.17.1.

The Romanus has a fascinating overstrike. From some of the features I can make out, it looks like an overstrike onto a follis of Leo VI, probably Sear 1729. Sear's book says that this was a common overstrike. The lines of the reverse seem to correspond to the lines on Leo's chlamys. So that's a pretty cool coin.
 

23 hours ago, ela126 said:

Wow that Romanus is good. Love it. Still need one myself. Here’s my Constantine VII, not a great flan but the portrait is nice.

I did get really lucky with the Romanus. I had searched for a decent example for a while and this one just appeared randomly in an online store one day. I bought it on sight. Pure luck. It's still one of my favorites.

That Constantine VII does have a decent portrait. Details of what the eyes and beard should look like appear more distinct. And the nose does look slightly curved, just like on the one I posted. I don't know if that was intentional or just a vestige of wear. Byzantine coins don't usually go into excessive detail, but the similarity almost makes me think the Emperor had a broken nose. This one also looks like a Sear 1761, Sommer 36.17.2.
 

23 hours ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

Just to prove how "good enough" yours are, here are mine. Swap?

These are actually better than a lot of the examples I've seen on my coin hunts. Though the portraits look pretty obliterated, the loros and globus crucigers stick out on all of them. And lots of legible letters. The leftmost one has a nice patina. I've seen far worse than those. I have yet to find, or even see, a "wow" example of this type. Even the samples shown in Sear and Sommer don't look fantastic (the one shown in Sommer doesn't even have a face).
 

23 hours ago, Jims,Coins said:

Minted at Constantinople during the reign of Constantine VII and Romanus I between Feb 914 - 919. Obv. Facing busts of Constantine VII, beardless, (on l.) and Zoe (on r.), both crowned and holding between them long patriarchal cross; Constantine wears loros, whilst his mother is clad in chlamys. Rev. +CONS/tAntiNO’/CE.ZOHbA/SILIS.RO/MEON in five lines. BCVS #1758. Provenance: Ex. Savoca ebay 2018 6.17g, 24.0mm, 6H

Minted at Constantinople during the reign of Constantine VII, Porphyrogenitus and Romanus I, Lecapenus between 20 May 921 - August 931. Obv. +IhS XPS REX REcnAntI4M*.: Christ enthroned facing, wearing nimbus cr., pallium and colobium, and raising r. hand in benediction; in l. hand, book of Gospels. Rev. ROmAn’ET XPISTOFO’ A4cc b’.: Facing busts of Romanus I, with short beard (on l.) and Christopher, beardless (on r.), both crowned, holding between them long patriarchal cross; Romanus wears loros, whilst his son is clad in chlamys. BCVS #1745. CBE #6 pg. 201.

Thanks for sharing these. I don't have a Constantine VII and Zoe example. I really like that type because of the composition and it's one of the few Byzantine coins that depicts a woman.

The other coin looks like a gold Solidus. I didn't notice that at first. The photograph makes the coin look a little greenish, so I initially thought it was another follis. Nice coin!

 

So many other Byzantine coins have this same "good enough for the type" issue, at least for the bronzes. It seems like very few even semi-pristine examples of various types survived. Decent portraits of Tiberius II Constantine, Maurice Tiberius, Heraclius, Constantine IV, Justinian II, etc., seem very difficult to find. After searching Byzantines for going on almost two years now, I've started to accept the "good enough for the type" standard. It makes searching more challenging, but also more time consuming. I did get extremely lucky with the Romanus above (and it wasn't really that expensive), so it can happen.

Thanks everyone for sharing! Keep them coming! It's great to see more Byzantine action on this forum.