| | The Byzantine Empire
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sale from this period
Traditionally, numismatists categorize the
"Byzantine Empire" from the reign of Anastasias I in 491 to
Constantine XI Palaeologus, ending in 1453. There is still much debate as
to whether or not this is correct or if perhaps it should be moved back to the
point when Constantine I moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople
or perhaps when the Roman Empire split between the East and West. Even the
term "Byzantine" itself is debated by some numismatists and
historians, who prefer to use the term "Romaion". The coins
listed on the sub-pages will be attributed to the number, and preceded by SB, in
David Sear's "Byzantine Coins and Their Values", published by Seaby,
an imprint of Spink & Son Ltd, London.
Chronological Index of Byzantine Rulers
(as listed on Dave Surber's site -
www.wildwinds.com - with links to his pages)
Anastasius
I 491-518 |
Justin
I 518-527 |
Justin
I and Justinian I 527 |
Justinian
I 527-565 |
Justin
II 565-578 |
Justin
II and Tiberius II Constantine 578 |
Tiberius
II Constantine 578-582 |
Maurice
Tiberius 582-602 |
Theodosius
590-602 |
Phocas
602-610 |
Revolt
of the Heraclii 608-610 |
Heraclius
610-641 |
Heraclius
Constantine 641 |
Heraclonas
641 |
Constans
II 641-668 |
Mezezius
668-669 |
Constantine
IV 668-685 |
Justinian
II, First Reign 685-695, Second reign 705-711 |
Leontius
695-698 |
Tiberius
III 698-705 |
Philippicus
711-713 |
Anastasius
II, Artemius 713-715 |
Theodosius
III of Adramytium 715-717 |
Leo
III the Isaurian 717-741 |
Artavasdus
and Nicephorus 742-743 |
Constantine
V Copronymus and Leo IV the Khazar 741-775 |
Leo
IV and Constantine VI 775-780 |
Constantine
VI and Irene 780-797 |
Irene
797-802 |
Nicephorus
I and Stauracius 802-811 |
Michael
I Rhangabe and Theophylactus 811-813 |
Leo
V the Armenian 813-820 |
Michael
II the Amorian 820-829 |
Theophilus
829-842 |
Michael
III the Drunkard 842-867 |
Basil
I the Macedonian 867-886 |
Leo
VI the Wise 886-912 |
Alexander
912-913 |
Constantine
VII Porphyrogenitus and Romanus I Lecapenus 913-959 |
Romanus
II 959-963 |
Nicephorus
II, Phocas 963-969 |
Anonymous
Folles coined under several emperors, 10th - 11th centuries |
John
I Tzimisces 969-976 |
Basil
II, Bulgaroktonos 976-1025 |
Constantine
VIII 1025-1028 |
Romanus
III, Argyrus 1028-1034 |
Michael
IV 1034-1041 |
Zoe
1041 |
Michael
V 1041-1042 |
Zoe
and Theodora-1042 |
Constantine
IX 1042-1055 |
Theodora
1055-1056 |
Michael
VI 1056-1057 |
Isaac
I Comnenus 1057-1059 |
Constantine
X 1059-1067 |
Eudocia
1067 |
Romanus
IV 1068 1071 |
Michael
VII 1071-1078 |
Nicephorus
III 1078-1081 |
Alexius
I 1092-1118 |
John
II 1118-1143 |
Manuel
I 1143-1180 |
Andronicus
I 1183-1185 |
Isaac,
Usurper in Cyprus 1184-1191 |
Isaac
II Angelus 1185-1195 |
Alexius
III Angelus-Comnenus 1195-1204 |
Alexius
IV Ducas 1204 |
Latin
Rulers of Constantinople and Thessalonica |
Theodore
I (Empire of Nicaea) 1208-1222 |
John
III (Empire of Nicaea) 1222-1254 |
Theodore
II (Empire of Nicaea) 1254-1258 |
Empire
of Nicaea, Uncertain Ruler |
Theodore
(Empire of Thessalonica) 1224-1230 |
Manuel
(Empire of Thessalonica) 1230-1237 |
John
(Empire of Thessalonica) 1237-1242 (despot 1242-1244) |
Anonymous
issues of Thessalonica 1242-1246 |
Michael
I, Angelus (Despotate of Epirus) 1204-1215 |
Theodore,
Comnenus-Ducas (Despotate of Epirus) 1215-1230 |
Manuel,
Comnenus-Ducas (Despotate of Epirus) 1230-1237 |
Michael
II, Comnenus-Ducas (Despotate of Epirus) 1237-1271 |
Michael
VIII Palaeologus 1261-1282 |
Andronicus
II Palaeologus 1282-1328 |
Andronicus
III Palaeologus 1328-1341 |
John_V
Palaeologus 1341-1391 |
John_VI
Cantacuzenus 1347-1354 |
Andronicus
IV 1376-1379 |
John
VII Palaeologus 1390 |
Manuel
II Palaeologus 1391-1423 |
John
VIII Palaeologus 1423-1448 |
Constantine
XI Palaeologus, 1448-1453 |
Reading Byzantine Folles
The obverses on Byzantine bronzes are similar
to reading Roman coins. The legend follows the edge of the coin and often
employs a facing bust type. What may be confusing at first is the usage of
upper and lower case characters within names.
Maurice Tiberius, Ć Follis, Year 11 (592/593),
Theoupolis (Antioch) Mint, Officina 3. d N MAurI C N P AuT Facing bust,
crowned, in consular robes, with mappa and eagle-tipped scepter. Large
M, + above, ANNO and X | I at sides, G below, THEUP'
in exergue. Sear Byzantine 533.
As for the reverse marks, there are often three
different sets to observe. The large letter(s) in the middle represents the
denomination.
|
A = 1 Nummus |
|
B = 2 Nummi |
|
G = 3 Nummi |
|
D = 4 Nummi |
|
E = 5 Nummi or Pentanummium |
|
V = 5 Nummi or Pentanummium |
|
S = 6 Nummi |
|
H = 8 Nummi |
|
X = 10 Nummi or Decanummium |
|
I = 10 Nummi or Decanummium |
|
I + B = 12 Nummi |
|
I + S = 16 Nummi |
|
XX = 20 Nummi or Half Follis |
|
K = 20 Nummi or Half Follis |
|
XXX = 30 Nummi or Three-Quarter Follis |
|
LG = 33 Nummi |
|
XXXX = 40 Nummi or Follis |
|
M or m = 40 Nummi or Follis |
|
PK = 120 Nummi (silver coin) |
|
PKE = 125 Nummi (silver coin) |
|
CN = 250 Nummi (silver coin) |
Other Byzantine denominations, unmarked
|
Third-Siliqua (Silver, around 1.00g) |
Below the denomination mark is one letter
representing the officina in Greek, in this case gamma, or three. To the
right of the denomination mark is a group of Roman numerals representing the year of
issue. I is 1; V, U and u is 5; X is 10; etc. However, this unusual
character:
is actually a symbol for 6.
Therefore, a coin with that character (archaic digamma or vau) with say, two I's, is year 8,
not year 7. Since I don't have an exact character for vau, I'm going to
use the symbol for the Roman digamma ( V ) throughout
the Byzantine pages. Also, Year 5 is sometimes written as a C with an I connected
below.
Maurice Tiberius, Ć Follis, Year 8 (589/590),
Theupolis (Antioch) Mint, Officina 3. d N MAurI C N P AuT Facing bust,
crowned, in consular robes, with mappa and eagle-tipped scepter. Large
M, + above, ANNO and u | III at sides, G below, THEUP'
in exergue. Sear Byzantine 533.
Sometimes, actually fairly often, you can find
all sorts of oddities within Byzantine coins. The culture is rife with
overstrikes, double-strikes, gross mis-strikes and other errors. For
example, the above coin may be an example where two flans were stuck together,
since there is no obverse strike at all. It is an AE Decanummium from
Carthage, struck in the year 14 for Justinian I.
It measures 16mm and weighs 4.31g. and would normally be SB 269.
Byzantine artifacts
|
Byzantine, Anonymous Lead Seal, Probably Late 6th Century
(No legend)
Nimbate, draped, facing bust of Christ, small cross in left and right
fields
(No legend)
Large I, large cross in left and right fields, all in dotted line border
15mm, 4.44g, 3mm thick
Notes from David Sear: The most similar numismatic equivalents are decanummia of Tiberius
II Constantine (SB 472) and Maurice Tiberius (SB 601). Nice silvery
appearance.
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Byzantine, Blue Glass Weight of 8 Siliquae or 1 Tremissis, 6th-7th Century
(No legend)
Bust of Eparch
(No legend)
Uniface
18mm, 1.56g
Cf. Bendall 190 and 191 Ex Gert Boersema, VCoins, October 2009; Ex Kölner Münzkabinett (Tyll Kroha), Auction
68, Lot 1497, 1998
Notes from Mr. Boersema: Bendall does not give a date, but considering
these glass weights also show block and cruciform monograms, that
indicates a date in the 6th/7th century AD. Also, the only imperial
portraits found on glass weights are Justinian I and Justin II, which
corroborates that date. The reference for these is Simom Bendall's 'Byzantine
Weights, An introduction' (1996).
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