Leo III, Æ Follis, Constantinople...

[ewomack]

Similar to many 8th century Byzantine coins, this one doesn't exactly embody the Form of the Beautiful. The reverse in particular, especially where Constantine V should appear, looks either overstruck or just messed up. The obverse portrait looks okay, though, and some of the text even remains legible. I also haven't seen many amazing examples of this type out there. The price of this one was definitely right. Plus, it features Leo III, one of the most interesting, controversial, and confusing figures in Byzantine history. He did manage to end the 20 Year Anarchy, which stabilized an empire in very dire straits, but then he began the insidious iconoclasm controversy that distracted the empire on and off for over a century. So it goes. Given the price, the era and the figure, this one seemed worth picking up.

Leo III (717-741), Æ Follis, Constantinople, Obv: δNO LεON MμL., Bust facing, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia; Rev: δN CONSτANτIUS, Bust of Constantine V , beardless, facing, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger and akakia, all above an ornate horizontal bar, beneath which large M between A/A and x/x, beneath M, A; 18mm, 2.50g; DOC 31b, Sommer 21.9, Sear 1514

Please share any Leo III coins you may have!

[Valentinian]

1 hour ago, ewomack said:

it features Leo III, one of the most interesting, controversial, and confusing figures in Byzantine history

That type, Sear 1514, comes both that size (c. 18 mm) and much larger (c. 24 mm and even larger). He said, 

1 hour ago, ewomack said:

I haven't seen many amazing examples of this type out there.

Neither have I. This one I got for its large size: 27-25 mm and 9.44 grams.



Don't let the next enlarged photo fool you. The next coin is much smaller than the above coin, only 19-18 mm and 3.01 grams.



DN LEO NP MU
Facing bust of Leo III
bust of Constantine V above a large M, flanked by A/A and X/X
DN CONSTANTI 
 

Edited December 17, 2024 by Valentinian
better image

[sand]

@ewomack That's a nice, interesting example, with many good details. I agree, that good Leo III bronze examples, with Leo III by himself on 1 side of the coin, minted during the reign of Leo III, are difficult to find. Yours is 1 of the better ones. The type with Leo III and Constantine V together on 1 side of the coin, seems to be easier to find. Here's my Leo III.

Byzantine Empire. Leo III AE 40 Nummi Follis. Minted 721 AD To 725 AD. Constantinople Mint. Sear 1514. DO 30b. Maximum Diameter 22.7 mm. Weight 4.95 grams. Obverse : Leo III Bust Facing Front, With Short Beard, Wearing Crown With Cross On Top, Globus Cruciger In Right Hand. Reverse : Constantine V Bust Facing Front, Beardless, Globus Cruciger In Right Hand, Large M Below.

Edited December 17, 2024 by sand

[ela126]

Here’s one that might be less common, and is certainly confused with the 1514 Constantinople examples. This looks nearly the samE but in the exegue on the reverse, is has SC M L. For the Syracuse mint.

Leo III on the front with Constantine V on the reverse, just like the 1514.

i purchased this due to flan size. It is a thin wafer, 26.2mm 2.95g. Sadly the portraits are in rather terrible condition, with a high gloss lacquer coating on it.

SB 1530

This is the more well known Leo III, that isn’t terribly common, although it seems it is, because of how similar Leo V coins are. The Akakia in their hands is the critical focus point, also the overall flan size is much smaller than Leo V coins.

SB 1516, 2.47g, 21mm, Constantinople

here is a comparison between Leo III, Nicephorus 1, and Leo V coins of similar type. 

Edited December 18, 2024 by ela126

[ewomack]

On 12/16/2024 at 6:51 PM, Valentinian said:

That type, Sear 1514, comes both that size (c. 18 mm) and much larger (c. 24 mm and even larger). He said, 

Neither have I. This one I got for its large size: 27-25 mm and 9.44 grams
 

Yes, Sear does mention that 1514 can range in size from 27mm to 18mm, so it appears we have examples of both extremes. The one I posted looks pretty tiny in hand. Your 27mm must look pretty impressive in person. Your 18mm example is probably the most complete I've seen. Both obverse and reverse portraits, and much of the legend, remain coherent and legible.
 

On 12/17/2024 at 1:16 AM, sand said:

@ewomack That's a nice, interesting example, with many good details. I agree, that good Leo III bronze examples, with Leo III by himself on 1 side of the coin, minted during the reign of Leo III, are difficult to find. Yours is 1 of the better ones. The type with Leo III and Constantine V together on 1 side of the coin, seems to be easier to find. Here's my Leo III.

Thank you, I'm glad my instincts seemed valid when I was deciding to buy that example. I looked at the Sear and the Sommer pictures and did some searching on the internet for other examples of the type. None I found looked much better, and many looked much worse, so I thought maybe this was the "good enough for the type" example that I was looking for. It's situations like these that may discourage some people from pursuing Byzantines. Often one goes on a quest for the "least ugly" example.

Thanks for sharing all of your examples, @ela126 - that's a nice assortment! And a lot of nice green patina.

Perhaps a kind of morbid aesthetic attracts me to Byzantines in general, and especially those of the 8th century. The coins of that era really seem to reflect the compromised health of the empire. The follis, in some cases, became smaller than a modern US Cent. The strikes seem to become uneven, blotchy, and low grade. Even the flans seem quite sub-optimal. But the figures on the coins, even when worn, have a strange appeal that no other coins have for me. Their flat abstraction speaks to me for some reason. I'm not sure where else to find the feeling these coins exude. As I've said here before, it's probably their position between Roman and Medieval coins that does it. A nice Byzantine coin can give you some of the best of both, especially for fans who lean towards medieval abstraction.

[voulgaroktonou]

It’s great to see these coins of Leo! As noted above, his reign is of tremendous importance for the survival of the Roman state and for the history of western Europe.

 

A sideline of my collecting the coins are novels that concern the eastern Roman Empire. One of my favorites was gifted to me years ago by a dear friend. "The Beauty of the Purple: A Romance of Imperial Constantinople Twelve Centuries Ago" by William Stearns Davis (New York, Macmillan, 1924) opens in the year 705, with a sleepy scene in the village of St. Theodore, along the road leading from Adrianople to Constantinople, where we soon meet a young man from Mesembria leading his flock of sheep to sell at market in Constantinople…..

 

Here are a few of the coins that would later feature that young man.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, 720

Solidus 4.44 gr. 20.9 mm. 6 hr.

Obv:δND[L]ЄO N  - P A MЧL. Crowned bearded bust of Leo, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: δ Ν CONSτ  - ANτINЧS Μ Θ Beardless bust of youthful Constantine, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Sear 1504; DO 3 var.; Füeg 3K(this coin) = Berk 216. Sotheby’s 2 Nov. 1998 Auction, lot 389.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Rome, 721-41

Tremissis 1.40 gr. 16.4 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: [DNO] LЄ[ON] – P A MЧL. Bearded bust of Leo holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: D – NO CON – TANTI Beardless bust of youthful Constantine, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Sear 1534; DO 87. NAC Autumn Sale, 26-27 Oct. 1995, lot 894.

 

LEO III, 717-741

Constantinople, 717-720.

Pattern silver Solidus or ceremonial issue, 3.04 gr. 19 mm. 6 h

Obv: δΝΟ LЄO -N  PA MЧL. Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding spear over shoulder and shield with horseman motif.

Rev: VICT[ORIA AVGЧ] Є. Cross potent on base and three steps. Beneath, CONOB.

Sear 1511; H. 23; T. 43. CNG 257, 8 June 2011, lot 514.

 

LEO III, 717-741

Constantinople, 717-720.

Pattern silver Solidus or ceremonial issue , 2.56 gr. 23.9 mm. 6 h

Obv: [δΝ]Ο LЄO -N - PA MЧL. Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding spear over shoulder and shield with horseman motif.

Rev: [VICTORIA A]VGЧ I. Cross potent on base and three steps. Beneath, CONOB.

Sear 1511; H. 23; T. 43 ; Füeg 2 (officina not recorded). NN Auction 102, 3 May 2021, lot 823.

The size and weight of these silver pieces no longer have any relationship to the hexagram standard, and are simply silver strikes using solidus reverse dies. Officinae Δ, E, S, H, and Θ (Kuenker 273, lot 1081) are known, so the selection of dies appears to have been random. This coin adds off. I to our population. The NN auction cat. describes the officina as “S”, while another example from the same dies (Rauch 82, lot 683) is there noted as “E?”. But the letter is clearly “I”. They were struck in two types, both with the same reverse, but one with a bust type known for solidi (SB 1510) and one which appears to have been rejected for the gold coinage (SB 1511 as this coin). Perhaps Grierson’s explanation of this coinage (from NumChron 1965, p. 184) is still the best. He notes this coin: “...does not correspond to the regular solidus type of Leo’s early years, which consists of a facing bust wearing a chlamys and holding a globus cruciger and an akakia. It should probably be interpreted as a pattern for a solidus that was not approved for the gold but was set aside as a model for the copper [and was based on the portraits of Constantine IV]. The use of solidus dies for a silver ‘coin’ is easily explained. During the three decades c. 690-c. 720, in the interval between the disappearance of the thick and heavy Heraclian hexagram and the introduction of the thin and light Isaurian miliaresion, the silver ‘coins’ that were needed for customary distributions were frequently struck with the dies normally used for solidi, or, as in this case, with a die prepared originally for solidi but not actually used for them.”

Leo III, 717-41

Constantinople, 717-720

Æ Follis, 3.47 gr. 21.9 mm. 7 hr.

Obv: δΝΟ LЄ0 [N P A MЧL] Standing figure of Leo, wearing crown and loros, holding in right hand an akakia and in left, a cross scepter.

Rev: Large M between A/N/N/O and X/X; cross above; beneath, A. In exergue, CON.

Sear 1513A; H. 24 var.

Overstruck on a follis of Anastasius II. Officina A is unpublished, save for one in the Fleischmann collection, now at DO, and two in trade (Gorny 126: 13-14 Oct. 2003, lot 2959 and Kovacs XVI 29 Sept. 2004, lot 386).

 

Leo III, 717-41

Constantinople, 717-720

Æ Half Follis, 3.64 gr. 22.9 mm. 5 hr.

Obv: [δΝ DΟ LЄ] 0N P A ] Standing figure of Leo, wearing crown and loros, holding in right hand an akakia and in left, a cross scepter.

Rev: Large K between [A/N/N/O] and X/X; [cross above]; beneath, A.

Sear 1517A; DO 85 (as Justinian II)

 

Leo III, 717-41

Constantinople, 717-720

Æ Follis 7.22 gr. 25.6 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: D N LЄ0 – N – P A MЧL Helmeted and cuirassed facing bust, holding spear over shoulder and shield.

Rev: Large M between A/N/N/O  and X/X;  cross above; beneath, A. In exergue, CON.

Sear 1513; H. 25; DO 24. Ex Protonotarios collection.

 

Leo III, 717-41

Constantinople, 717-720

Æ Half Follis 4.18 gr. 23.7 mm. 6hr.

Obv: Inscription illegible save for traces of P A? Helmeted and cuirassed facing bust, holding spear over shoulder and shield.

Rev: Large K, between [A]N/N/O and I X/X; [cross above]; beneath B, star below.

Sear 1517; H. 27 (var); DO 25 (var). Officina B not recorded.

 

Leo III, 717-41

Constantinople, 717-41

Æ Decanummium 1.44 gr. 19 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: Anepigraphic. Helmeted and cuirassed facing bust, holding spear over shoulder and shield decorated with Chi-Rho.

Rev. Large I between cross/star and X/X. In exergue, CON.

Sear 1521; H. 28. Berk 847 (this coin); Berk/England Sale 7 Dec. 1989, lot 288.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, 725-32

Æ Follis, 4.87 gr. 22.3 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: [δNO] LЄ0 – N – P A MЧL. Crowned bearded bust of Leo, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: [δ Ν CONSτ]A – NτINЧS. Horizontal line, above which crowned beardless bust of Constantine, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia. Below, large M between A/N/N and X/X. Below, A.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, 725-32

Æ Follis, 4.02 gr. 21.4 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: δ LЄO – N PA ML Crowned, bearded bust of Leo, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: CONS – tAN. Horizontal line, above which crowned, beardless bust of Constantine, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia. Below, large M between A/A and X/X. Below, A.

Sear 1514; DO 31a; R. 1741. The folles of this class are divided into several subclasses, characterized by declining weight and size. See DOC 3:1, pp. 233-4.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, ca. 725-32

Æ Half Follis 1.69 gr. 16.6 mm. 6hr

Obv: δ NO LЄ[O]  –  PA MЧL Crowned, bearded bust of Leo, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: CON – StAN  Horizontal line, above which crowned, beardless bust of Constantine, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia. Below, large K between X/X and A/A.

Sear 1518; DO 34

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, ca. 725-32

Æ Decanummium, 4.04 gr. 23.5 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: δ N D [LЄO – N P A MЧL] Crowned, bearded bust of Leo, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: δ Ν CONSτ – ANτI[N]Ч[S]. Horizontal line, above which crowned, beardless bust of Constantine, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia. Below, large I between A/[N]/[N] and X/X.

Sear 1522; DO 35.

 

Leo III with Constantine V,

 717-741

Constantinople, 732

Æ Follis, 2.61 gr. 20.8 mm. 6 hr.

Abv: Anepigraphic. Crowned busts of Leo, wearing chlamys, and Constantine, wearing loros, both holding cross potent between them.

Rev:  Large M between X/X/X and N/N/N, cross above; beneath, A.

Sear 1515; DO 36. Ex Protonotarios Collection.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, 732 (?)

Æ Half Follis, 1.20 gr. 17.6 mm. 6hr

Obv: Anepigraphic. Crowned busts of Leo, wearing chlamys, and Constantine, wearing loros, both holding cross potent between them.

Rev: Rev: Large K between [X/X/X] and [N]/N/N, [cross above]; beneath, B.

Sear 1519; DO (37b) = Agora 1829b

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Constantinople, circa 732-735

Æ Follis 3.83 gr. 25.4 mm. 6hr.

Obv: LЄON S – COn.  Busts of Leo, bearded, and Constantine V, beardless, facing, each crowned and wearing chlamys, and holding an akakia in right hand.

Rev: Large M between X/X/X and N/N/N; cross above; beneath, A.

Sear 1516; DO 38a; BM (Leo V) 15; T. (Leo V) 13

 

Leo III with Constantine V. 717-741   

Constantinople, circa 735-741

Æ Half Follis 1.98 gr. 18.4 mm. 5 hr.

Obv: [LЄ] - ON –[S COn].  Busts of Leo and Constantine, as before, but Constantine is nearly the same size as his father and is bearded.

Rev: Large K between X/X/X and N/N/N; cross above; beneath, B.

References: Sear 1520 (This coin); DO 41b   

The West

Leo III, 717-41

Syracuse, 717-20

Æ Follis 1.20 gr. 19.2 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: Anepigraphic. Leo standing facing, wearing plumed helmet and loros, holding spear in right hand, globus cruciger in left.

Rev: Large M; monogram of Leo above, between two palms branches. In exergue, SCL.

Sear 1529; H. 30; DO 52; Spahr 297; Calciati 72.

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-741

Syracuse, 721-30

Æ Follis 2.80 gr. 18.7 mm. 5 hr.

Obv: [δ] N D L – [ЄO M]. Crowned, bearded bust of Leo, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia.

Rev: [δ N CO – NτAN]. Horizontal line, above which crowned, beardless bust of Constantine, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia. Below, large M between SC and L.

Sear 1530; DO 54b

 

Leo III with Constantine V, 717-41

Syracuse, 731-41

Æ Follis 2.40 gr. 22 mm. 6 hr.

Obv: [Λ]/Є/Ο/Ν – [Δ/Є/C/Π]. Leo standing facing, wearing chlamys and crown with cross. He holds in right hand a cross and in left, an akakia.

Rev: [K]/ω/Ν /S - Δ/Є/C/Π. Constantine, beardless, standing facing, wearing chlamys and crown with cross. He holds in right hand a cross and in left, an akakia.

Sear 1531; DO 55; Spahr 321, 321 bis; Ricotti 190; BM 21-3; R. 1756.

 

Leo III, 717-41

Rome, 717-41

Æ 30 nummi, 1.67 gr. 16.2 mm. 1 hr.

Obv: Anepigraphic. Beardless bust facing, wearing chlamys and crown with cross. He holds in right hand a globus cruciger.

Rev: XXX. [Above, cross]. In exergue, Rom.

Sear 1534D; H. 31a; BNP 1 (Justinian II). Vecchi Auction 5. 5 Mar. 1997, lot 1211.

[Valentinian]

11 hours ago, voulgaroktonou said:

Here are a few of the coins that would later feature that young man.

Wow!  What an extensive and spectacular selection. Your Sear 1516 is outstanding. "Obv: LЄON S – COn.  Busts of Leo, bearded, and Constantine V, beardless, facing, each crowned and wearing chlamys, and holding an akakia in right hand".  This one is mine:

21-20 mm. 2.50 grams.

 

[voulgaroktonou]

11 hours ago, Valentinian said:

Wow!  What an extensive and spectacular selection. Your Sear 1516 is outstanding. "Obv: LЄON S – COn.  Busts of Leo, bearded, and Constantine V, beardless, facing, each crowned and wearing chlamys, and holding an akakia in right hand".  This one is mine:

21-20 mm. 2.50 grams.

 

I love yours also, my friend!