Byzantine Coins, Mints, and Dating
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Previous: Inscriptions, Value Marks, and Monograms on Late Roman and Byzantine Coins
Next: The Anonymous FollisThe Byzantine Coins
The coins were struck in gold, silver, and bronze. The sizes and weights change between type throughout the era. The coins were struck in the following denominations.
Gold
½ TremissisTremissis
Semissis
Solidus
Tetarteron
Histameron Nomisma
Electrum Aspron Trachy
Hyperpyron
Silver
120 Nummi250 Nummi
½ Siliqua
Siliqua
2/3 Miliaresion (400 Nummi)
Miliaresion
Trachy
Hexagram
Basilikon
Billon Tornese
1/8 Stavraton
½ Stavraton
Stavraton
Bronze
Nummis2 Nummis
3 Nummis
4 Nummis
5 Nummi, Pentanmummium
6 Nummi
8 Nummi
10 Nummi, Decanummium
12 Nummi
16 Nummi
4 Pentanummia, 20 Nummi
20 Nummi, ½ Follis
30 Nummi, ¾ Follis
33 Nummi
8 Pentanummia, 40 Nummi
40 Nummi
Tetarteron
5 Nummi: V
10 Nummi: X
20 Nummi: XX
30 Nummi: XXX
40 Nummi: XXX
The link below can explain the different denominations better than I can:
Byzantine Coinage by Philip Grierson
Byzantine Mints
Dating Byzantine Coins
The dating of Byzantine coins isn’t as straight forward as one might think.
The dating on bronze Byzantine bronze was introduced by the Emperor Justinian I in the 12th year of his regin (Regnal year) 538/39 AD. He ordered that a date be placed on the reverse of the coin on the right side and on the left side the word ANNO (year). Seems easy enough to follow, but here is were it gets confusing.
The 12th year of Justinian’s regin was 538/539 AD, but the date indicated on the coin was the number 2.
Justinian I ruled from August 1st 527 – November 14th 565 AD, so his first regnal year was 527/28 AD. He ruled for 39 years.
| Date | Regnal Year | Indication on Coin |
|---|---|---|
| 538/39 AD | 12 | 2 |
| 539/40 AD | 13 | 3 |
| 540/41 AD | 14 | 4 |
The indication number will increase until 15, when the cycle starts again.
| Date | Regnal Year | Indication on Coin |
|---|---|---|
| 551/52 AD | 25 | 15 |
| 552/53 AD | 26 | 1 |
| 564/64 AD | 39 | 14 |
To complicate the issue even more, if the emperor ruled after 566 the cycle would have started again, making it all the more difficult to pin down an exact date.
This system continued with Justin II,Tiberius II Constantine, Phocas, Heracluis, Constans II, Constantine IV, Justinian II, Tiberius III, and Leontius. The only emperor that regnal years and indicated years were the same was, Maurice Tiberius. A word of caution, before assigning a date to your coin check reference material.
Above is a Follis of the emperor Justinian I with the legend: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVC. The large M indicates that it’s a Follis, the letter A indicates that it is from work shop A at the Nikomedia mint (mint mark NIKO). On the left is the word ANNO (year) and on the right are the letters X and U which is 10 + 5 or year 15. Knowing that Justinian first dated his coins in year 12 of his regin by placing the number 2 on them. The number 15 would than be the 25th year of his regin and the date would be 551/552 AD for this coin. Hope that makes sense.
Previous: Inscriptions, Value Marks, and Monograms on Late Roman and Byzantine Coins
Next: The Anonymous Follis
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