ANCIENT - Dark Age Silver - Confiscated Church Plate- 610-641 AD

Being new to Byzantine coinage I really don't know a lot about it, but I know that Byzantine silver coinage is rare. When I saw this being offered for sale on the bay at a price I could make a deal around, I had to have it. I thought it was a really nice example of Dark Age early Byzantine silver. Although worn it has many remaining admirable qualities.:thumb:

During this period the Byzantine Empire was cut off from its silver mines and silver coinage all but disappeared. Continued wars with Persia required vast sums of money and a high denomination silver piece was needed. Having no way to mine silver this coin was made exclusively from Church plate. THe coin weighed about 6.5 grams, and was named after its weight. The coin would only remain in circulation for a short time and only continued in ceremonial use, before being replaced by the smaller thinner Miliaresion.

Byzantine Empire
Eastern Roman Empire
Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine
AR Hexagram 22.0 mm x 6.28 g
Constantinople mint. 610-640 AD
Obv. dd NN HERAKLIUS et hERA CONST Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine seated facing on double throne
Rev. Large DEUS ADIUTA ROMANIS Cross potent above three steps (God Help the Romans)
ref# S 798


Any help with legend would be appreciated. Any additional background info would be interesting and appreciated. All comments are always welcome!

 

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Super cool Byzantine coin, my friend ... the ol' silver-Byz looks very eye-appealing!! (nice pick-up!!)

 

It only looks a little more worn than the pieces in the British Museum collection. I agree that it's got an abundance of detail for the grade, which makes it very attractive.

Are you sure it's authentic, though? I'm not saying it isn't, but it's rather brave of you to buy a scarce AR Byzantine, having little experience with them (not that I haven't done exactly the same thing with other coins).

 

Ah. I see.

 

I am glad you asked! Well I may be new these coins but I am not new to ancient coins in general. The weight and material are correct and the coin appears even in photos to be struck.
It was a pretty safe bet. It was also a safe bet that I could get it at a good deal because no one else seemed to be interested and it was listed for quite some time. The coin called to me once but I didn't answer - so I called back. :smile

 

oh wow, that is a neat coin AN...silver byzatnine...bravo.

 

Steve its not a Batman coin - but I would appreciate if there was something he could add. Haven't heard from him in a while.

 

I was toggling back and forth between your pic and the plates in one of my British Museum Sylloges, and nothing on your coin seemed awry - it looks like it belongs with the rest in terms of device and inscription styles. I guess I've just become trigger shy after seeing all those counterfeit dies Rudi posted last week.

 

Always stay trigger shy....but don't limit yourself. I have tried to familiarize myself with central asian coinage and have bought and dabbled in stuff I have never seen before. At least the Byzantine I can kind of read it.

Can you please post a link to the BMC you found?

 

Catalogue of the Imperial Byzantine Coins in the British Museum. The Heraclius plates start on page 477.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/da...ntine Coins in the British Museum - Vol I.pdf

 

Hexagrams of Heraclius are some of the most common Byzantine silver. You should be aware of fakes, but not overly concerned. I do wonder, what citation can you provide for the "church plate" story? The hexagrams were a large issue and would have completely denuded the sacramental cutlery.

Is that a K to the right? If so, it should be MIB 140 In any case, this type with Heraclius & Heraclius Constantine should have been struck 632-635.

 

I guess mine isnt as weak as I thought wow!

 

I don't think it's weak. In fact, it's rather strong compared to a lot of Byzantines I've seen.

Here's Volume II if you want it...

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/da...tine Coins in the British Museum - Vol II.pdf

 

Only under Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), in 615, were new silver coins minted to cover the needs of the war with Sassanid Persia. The material for these coins came chiefly from the confiscation of church plate. They were named after their weight of six grammata (6.84 grams), and probably valued at 12 to the gold solidus.[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][3]

[/SUP]

• Grierson, Philip (1999). Byzantine Coinage. Washington, District of Columbia: Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 978-0-88402-274-9.
• Kazhdan, Alexander Petrovich, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. New York, New York and Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.

Thanks man for the added info!! Your general knowledge of all areas of coinage is impressive. You either A are really old, B have a ton of coins, C Been collecting since birth, D have an absurd number of books and time on your hands.

BTW admittedly I received the info from wikipedia which is pretty good most of the time but I don't own any of the sources but I have read this before some where else for sure.

 

Do you mean to the right of the cross? The shape of that blob suggests a Christogram to me, or am I completely off the mark?

 

Yall know more than me and I accept conjecture.

 

I know nothing, lol - just stabbing at the dark.

 

Bill's a professional cataloger for CNG. Literally thousands of coins have passed through his hands. I'm surprised he even posts here, but it's a testament to his generous nature.

 

Interesting how something can be rare yet common. I guess this is a prime example. Byzantine silver coins are rare but this coin is common to Byzantine silver coins. Good thing I have the millerision....wew....