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 Replies: 14 / Views: 5,507 |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Picked this coin up for under $10. Not bad for that price. Byzantine Follis Maurice Tiberius 582-602 AD Obverse: Emperor facing Legend: dN MAVRIC TIbER P.P.A. Reverse: Large M, ANNO 5 (minted 586/7) Officinae A Mint KYZ (Cyzicus) 26mm x 10.2g x 7h Ref: SB-518    |
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
I sold my Byzantine collection about 10 years ago and every time I look at the fantastic coins that can be had at such just-plain-cheap prices it always bugs me.
But why do I keep opening these "ancients" subjects then?
I know, I know ... I miss them...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Nice pick up, Ron, especially for the price. I really like Byzantine folles. Thanks for sharing.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Thanks, the price was right.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Nice coin for little money Ron. I hope I am not taking liberties but it's little brother is on its way to me so I will tag my one in with your thread if that's OK. If you remember I bought 2 byzantines a couple of months back, one had an anomaly with the ANNO if you remember. Well these got lost in the post... so I selected one more and took a refund. It is a Maurice Tiberius half follis. (which crosses off both a new ruler and denomination for me) Sometimes Half follis has a K and sometimes an XX?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Sorry about the lost package, David, but the replacement is nice. Congrats. I sold my one and only Byzantine, a big Justinian I follis, years ago - and miss it. I believe you are correct that the Roman/Latin numerals XX and the Greek K both indicate the half-follis (20 nummi). Ron, I'm sure, will confirm. Are you familiar with this article?: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/nu...enominationsEdited by Kamnaskires
12/14/2015 10:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I wasn't aware of that article Bob, but makes for interesting reading.
Why not get another Justinian follis Bob? On account of the numbers of these out there you can get something well preserved for little money if you are after the right rulers.
I found with these Maurice Tiberius coins it is harder to find one in nice condition. Most have lost their face, I wonder if this is to do with the amount of time his coins circulated? Maurice's reighn was only 20 years but then he was usurped by Phocas and there were financial problems and warfare, presumably no new coins were minted?
A quick search shows that Phocas did mint coins... so I wonder the reason, maybe the problem just lies with the price bracket, I see some of the more expensive ones are pretty well preserved - I guess there is just less to choose from than with Justinian I and II.
Edited by DavidUK
12/15/2015 06:16 am
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Nice coin David, In the first hundred years or so of the empire they held onto to their Roman Latin roots so we still see the denominations sometimes in Latin. The Roman XX is the same as the Greek K. The faces of these coins weren't stuck as deeply as the rest of the coin. So they wear off rather quickly leaving little to no detail.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
David you mentioned Phocas, this emperor was so cruel that some called him the Caligula of the Byzantine empire. I'm surprised so many of his coins still exist and weren't destroyed. Every time I come across one I snatch it up. Here is a Follis of his.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I didn't know that about Phocas, but I have seen some of his coins are with someone next to him (like a joint ruler) so whoever that was must have had a full time job trying to deal with his antics.
Nice example there, of a ruler that probably most people haven't even heard of.
I don't want to get too caught up with Byzantine coinage but I think that its an area of collecting where you can get some great coins for relatively little money, I can see how it would be tempting to try and get every ruler and denomination. It might be nice to add a gold one to my collection one day.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
The person next to him is his wife Leontia. For some reason Byzantine coinage doesn't appeal to a lot of folks. It could be because they really aren't that artistic and in some cases just ugly. But I think it's because most folks think they are just an offshoot of the old Roman Empire with an uninteresting history. But once they delve into their history it's when they find out that it's just as interesting as ancient Romes was if not more.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Its all pretty interesting to me historically if you can be bothered to dig around and find out about these people, really you get out as much interest as the effort you put in.
They might not be artistic but I think they are nice in hand, they carry a bit more weight to the Roman coins (which personally I am not particularly drawn to) but for me the Greek ones win every time in terms of beauty.
Its nice that they put their spouses on there with them too, I should have guessed that it was his wife but I forgot the name Leontia and didn't realise it was a female name. My Justinian is with Sophie so this is also another interesting trait, does this tell us that it was a progressive society? (It follows since feminism had a hand in the downfall of the Roman Empire according to some articles that I have read)
This thread has taught me a thing or two I didn't know, which is always satisfying. Many thanks.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Though she doesn't appear on any of Justinian I coins, Theodora was a powerful and a driving force behind the emperor. If not for her strength Justinian would have abandoned the empire during the NIKA revolt. The same could be said about Sophia the wife of Justin II and many of empresses. Irene the only empress that ruled alone for a short time shows that women where just as powerful as the men.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
cool byzantine pick up ski, I am one of the minority that thinks byzantine coins are cool. here are a few of my recent MT pickups. a half follis from the bargain bin...  Maurice Tiberius, regnal year 6 (587/8) AD, Æ half follis O:Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger. R: Large K between regnal year; cross above; B beneath. Constantinople mint, 22 mm, 5.4 g Sear 497 and this one from the carthage mint with an unusual date...  Maurice Tiberius, 587-588 AD, Decanummium O: Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust left; DNMA (VRI)CI, IND S (zeta, date year 6) in ex. R:Cross set on three steps; N M flanking; X in exergue. Carthage mint. SB 566. 18 mm, 3.9 g. on this one, a single X instead of the I of the denomination. note the IND (zeta) on the obverse, indiction year 6. I wasn't even aware of this dating system. ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiction Edited by chrsmat71
12/15/2015 4:28 pm
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Nice ones Chris, you and I are among the few that like Byzantine coins.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 5,507 |
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Posted 12/14/2015 7:44 pm
