Something Attractive!

[ela126]

I used to only have slabbed coins, as I was an American collector for a long time.

This is the first decanummi I ever bought when I first got into Byzantine. Purchased raw off eBay, paid too much to get it in plastic. Ch XF 4/5 3/5, which at the time I thought was trash…

Being a slab it sits in slab cases in my safe. Haven’t looked at it much at all in years. Took it out to appreciate today, it’s a better looking coin than I remember, had a pretty good eye all the way back then. Common coin but it’s a looker.

Maurice Tiberius

decanummi

Antioch Mint

2.96g 16mm

sb 536

[panzerman]

AV Solidus ND

Con. Mint

Nicephorus I & Stauricus  802-10AD

This Emperor ended up in a bad way. He took his army into Bulgaria to teach the Bulgar King "Krum" (sounds like Conan movie) a lesson.Thus/ he sacked/ raped/ pillaged their capital, Pliska.  Laden with booty the Byzantine army was ambushed by Krum's warriors on the way home. The emperor and his men were trashed soundly. Krum then boiled the dead emperor's head/ and used it as a drinking cup!

[panzerman]

Maurice Tiberius 602-10AD

Con. Mint

AV Semissis ND

Maurice and his son co Emperor Theodosius III were deposed by Phocas in 610AD

Phocas then made Dad watch as the executioner hacked off his son head/ then it was his turn🤐 AV Solidi from Theodosius III are very $$$$$

[panzerman]

Now for Theodosius IV (seems Rasiel is only guy who has it right.)

AV Solidus ND

Con. Mint

[Al Kowsky]

1 hour ago, panzerman said:

Now for Theodosius IV (seems Rasiel is only guy who has it right.)

AV Solidus ND

Con. Mint

A breathtaking FDC solidus 😲!

[Simon]

El Aspron Trachy for Alexius I Comnenus.  SBCV-1915

[panzerman]

Could have been attractive/ but poorly engraved/ hammered🤐

Byzantine Empire restored

AV Hyperpyron ND

Con Mint

Michael VIII 1261-82

[panzerman]

This one is better from Magnesia Mint

[ela126]

2 minutes ago, panzerman said:

Could have been attractive/ but poorly engraved/ hammered🤐

Byzantine Empire restored

AV Hyperpyron ND

Con Mint

Michael VIII 1261-82

This is probably the finest example I’ve come across, especially Mary and the walls. A Team was working that day

[panzerman]

2 minutes ago, ela126 said:

This is probably the finest example I’ve come across, especially Mary and the walls. A Team was working that day

Thanks/ I had to fight another bidder (Naumann event) for that coin! He or she finally gave up at 2K euros. One of the times I got hooked into a crazy bidding war.😗 Now I am happy I have it.....

Had better quality public servants at Magnesia!

[Hrefn]

These Hyperpyra of Michael VIII usually look like my own example, which may actually be fairly nice for the type.   Purchased from Ed Waddell over 25 years ago.  His attribution is to the Philadelphia mint.  

[panzerman]

9 hours ago, Hrefn said:

These Hyperpyra of Michael VIII usually look like my own example, which may actually be fairly nice for the type.   Purchased from Ed Waddell over 25 years ago.  His attribution is to the Philadelphia mint.  

Naumann also stated that mine was from Philadephia Mint.  Though reference books list Magnesia?

[panzerman]

Alexius III Angelus 1195-1203

EL Aspron Trachy ND

[Simon]

1 hour ago, panzerman said:

11 hours ago, Hrefn said:

Naumann also stated that mine was from Philadephia Mint.  Though reference books list Magnesia?

Depends of what reference book and when and by who it was written. Also what book the attributor was using.

Right now some academics are trying to remove Thessalonikia as a mint for the 11th and 12th century. So the same is true for the later centuries, you will get some coins with different academic opinions on where they were minted. 

Christian Romans rarely wrote about money, it was considered to be in bad taste, so we are left with a lot of assumptions to where a coin was actually made.

[Hrefn]

https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1984_num_6_26_1859

Simon Bendall’s 1984 article on the sigla of Palaeologan hyperpyra is available online;  see above link.   On my coin there is a Rho, and possibly an “M” flanking the tower at 6 o’clock beneath the half-figure of the Virgin on the obverse.  This combination of sigla is NOT one of the coins of Michael VIII he attributes to Philadelphia.  

@panzerman’s first coin (Christ with scroll) has sigla of two dots flanking the tower at 12 o’clock.  The second coin (Christ with Gospels) has pi and epsilon flanking the tower at 6 o’clock.  Bendall attributed this second variety to Philadelphia.  

I would like to see more recent scholarship on the sigla and mints of Palaeologan hyperpyra if anyone can provide a link. 

I found this paper, but frankly it doesn’t answer any questions. https://www.academia.edu/43352645/The_Development_and_Function_of_Sigla_on_Late_Byzantine_Coins_A_D_1204_1453_

Edited January 9 by Hrefn
Addendum

[Bannerknight]

I am aware of an overview article on late Byzantine coinage and iconography from 2004, but to my knowledge Bendall's article is still unmatched. If anyone is aware of recent advances, please let us know. I would love to be wrong.

https://www.academia.edu/10869804/The_final_phase_of_Byzantine_coinage_Iconography_minting_and_circulation

 

[panzerman]

Justin II 565-78

AV Solidus

Con. Mint

 

[Simon]

I thought I would change it up a little from the gold we have been posting, here is a good looking half follis. It is attractive, got it in a group lot from a collection of coins that originally came from Leu and other auction houses.  Not my time period but I will eventually put it back in the market for the right collector to get.  The notes bellow are from Leu.

Maurice Tiberius, 582-602. Half Follis (Bronze, 23 mm, 5.63 g, 6 h), Theoupolis (Antiochia), RY 2 = 583-4. ΠITATISSNVPTIS Crowned facing bust of Maurice Tiberius, wearing crown surmounted with cross and consular robes, holding mappa and eagle-tipped scepter. Rev. Large XX between A/N/N/O and II; above, cross; below, R. DOC 175. MIB 97. SB 534. Good very fine.

The mint of Theoupolis often confused the legends of Tiberius II Constantine with those of his successor Maurice Tiberius. It is only through the regnal years that the two can, in some cases, be distinguished.

[panzerman]

[ela126]

Here is one I think is quite attractive.

Previously shared but a good one. This is a Michael VII - half follis - Constantinople - SB 1880a. 4.41g

My attribution to the half follis is an exact die match to a CNG example which also has the 2 column loros. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=381703

In hand its roughness is almost completely unnoticeable. Quite a handsome piece.

[Simon]

18 minutes ago, ela126 said:

Here is one I think is quite attractive.

Great example with a very nice patina. Beautiful. 

[balmora90]

Here's my 40 nummi of Justinian (i will post a lot more from my collection) that stands out in terms of it's sheer quality and look

[panzerman]

Tiberius III

AV Tremissis ND

Con. Mint

[Simon]

Theodore II Ducas-Lascaris (Nicaea) (1254-1258) BI trachy Magnesia SB 2143   4,45gm and 30.37mm a little flat but the dirty patina brings out a lot of details.

[voulgaroktonou]

On 1/7/2025 at 6:05 PM, Simon said:

Okay this little one was somehow made perfectily cicular with no signs of shaving. Here is the notes from Obolos, personally I think it was an A1 because of the scale. 

Anonymous Folles, time of Basil II & Constantine VIII, circa 976-1025. Follis (Bronze, 16.5 mm, 4.04 g, 6 h), Class A2, Constantinople. [+ EMMA-NOVHΛ/ IC XC] Bust of Christ Pantokrator facing, wearing cross nimbus with two pellets in each arm, his right hand raised in blessing and holding Gospels in his left. Rev. [+ IҺSЧS/ XR]IST[ЧS/ Ь]ASILЄЧ/ ЬASILЄ in four lines. DOC A2. SB 1813. Carefully clipped to be used in jewellery. Dark green patina. Very fine.

This is an extraordinary example. At first sight one might wonder if it was carefully clipped to be used in a ring or a pendant, but no clear marks of clipping can be seen on the edge. In any case the transformation of this coin to jewelry is magnificent

 

@Simon, a beauty!

Besides use in jewelry, another possibility is that it was trimmed to be used as a weight. For similar coins converted to weights by this method, see Klaus Weber: Late antiquity weights. The second life of antique and late antique coins (Maß und Gewicht 16: 2014 Mai), especially #s 116, 145, 146, 159, 179, 180.

Here are few I own. First, a cut down follis of Leo VI (Sear 1729).

 

Below, here it is compared with a follis of its type.

Follis, Class 3. Constantinople, 886-912. 9.19 gr. 26.6 mm. 7 hr. Sear 1729; DO 8; BNP 14-55; BMC 8-10; R. 1873.

Obv: + LЄOҺ ЬAS – ILЄVS ROM Crowned and draped bust facing, holding in left hand an akakia.

Rev: in four lines: +LЄOҺ/ЄҺ ӨЄO ЬA/SILЄVS R/OmЄOҺ

 

All as before, neatly trimmed to 4.24 gr. 17.9 mm. 6 hr. While the obverse legend is mostly off flan, the reverse preserves most of the four line inscription. Grierson, in DOC 3, 2, notes another specimen (DO 8.62) trimmed down to 17 mm, and weighing 4.05 gr.

And here it is resting on the untrimmed example.

A similar cut down follis of Nikephoros II, Sear 1783.

And here it is compared to a follis of its class.

Follis, Class 1 Constantinople, 963-969. 7.92 gr. 23.3 mm. 6 hr. Sear 1783; DO 7; BNP 2-5; BMC 9-12; R. 1915.

Obv: [+] hICIFR b - ASILЄV [Rω], crowned bust of Nicephorus facing, holding cross-tipped scepter in right hand and globus topped by trefoil in right

Rev: in four lines: [+ hICHF’] / Єh ΘЄω b[A] / SILЄVS Rω / mAIωh

 

The same, trimmed to 4.26 gr. 16.6 mm. 6 hr. While the obverse legend is mostly off flan, the reverse preserves most of the three of the four line inscription.

And here it is resting on the untrimmed example.

However, some years ago I picked up a curious object, a follis of Leo VI and Alexander that had been carefully cut down in antiquity so that only the figure of Leo remained. The care with which the original coin was trimmed suggests that it was not done to create smaller change from a follis. Although we may never know for certain, I will call it an amulet. That ‘s as good a guess as I can hazard, so an amulet it shall remain! 😊

Here it is next to a follis of its type.

Follis, Class 2. Constantinople, 886-912. 7.14 gr. 27 mm. 6 hr. Sear 1730; DO 6; BNP 4-13; BM 11-12; R. 1875.

Obv: + LЄOҺ - S ALЄΞAҺGROS Crowned figures of Leo and Alexander enthroned facing, each wearing loros, holding labarum between them; Alexander also holding akakia.

Rev:  In 4 lines: + LЄOҺ/S ALЄΞAҺ/ GROS ЬASIL'/ ROMЄOҺ .

 

The “amulet”. 1.95 gr. 21.7 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: Virtually no trace of legend, save for the bottom of the tachygraphic sign “S” = “and” just to the right of the cross on Leo’s crown. Leo’s seated figure.

Rev: Partial 4 line legend: + LЄ / ALЄ/ ROS Ь/ ROM

And here it is, laid over the follis.