Picked up this coin on ebay...

Of all the anonymous folles on ebay, I picked up this particular coin a few days ago. Can anyone tell me why? The dimensions are 25mm and 6.78g. Should probably mention that I have several Class B folles already...

 

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I think the style looks imitative, perhaps. The flan is small or shaved. Post a weight and size as well. There is also the possibility of being Arab-Byzantine even though it has none of those symbols.

Here is mine.

 

Imitation of Southern Italy just before the Norman invasion?

 

In was gonna cheat by looking at your Forum gallery but it's blank

 

"Norman Invasion", in Sicily they called it a liberation. My ancestors were so happy the Normans ran the Arabs out of there.

 

I'm going with imitation. That is definitely not the style of a typical official Class B. The nimbus style seems like it comes from a Class A. And Christ is missing a bundle of hair on his left side (right on the coin).

 

I agree with a few above - Norman invasion.

 

Very very interesting coin! Excellent catch.

 

What is it overstruck on?

 

Do you see an overstrike? I can't seem to find any traces of an undertype.

 

I think it looks OK. The last letter on the reverse top line should be an S, and it looks like an I, but that's the only difference I can make out.

 

Would that make it a "Pope In The Pizza" coin?

 

A class A obverse with a class B reverse

 

After a very hectic and long day at work, its time to get to the bottom of this post. The answer to this question reads like a facebook relationship status, "its complicated". Unlike the official Class B folles, there are several differences that can be spotted on the coin if you look carefully. Let's look at an official one first so that we can compare. This is the plate coin in labarum.info, which is far better than the ones I have in my collection:



Now here is my coin that has been annotated with the differences:



Christ's face is typically flat in these coins and hence has no features in it at all. Furthermore, unlike the official follis that has a rectangle (▭) on the arms of the nimbus, this particular coin has a quincunx (⁙). The obverse legend is also different. Unlike the typical +ЄMMA-NOVHΛ and IC-XC, we have IC XC with a bar and pellet above. The reverse is also different, but you have to look carefully. The S are more like a backward Z and the L is actually an I. Furthermore, the XS is more like an XI. Finally, to wrap the physical appearance, we also note that these coins are thin in comparison to the chunky follis of Romanus III. All of this leads to the same conclusion that Grierson, Zervos (more on him later) and others came to: Its an imitation!

Now who imitated the Class B follis? Now that becomes complicated. Most of you named the Normans in Sicily. Even though its probable, I doubt it due to the higher quality of the imitation in comparison to the known Class B imitations of the Normans. Below is a sample of the Norman imitations that can be found on the internet:


They are all chunky and clumsy in execution and style. Furthermore, the flans are much thicker than this particular type. In DOC, we see that Grierson's samples are analogous to mine as well as Zervos' one. However, the size varies from about 28mm to 18mm due to cut flans. The weight of the specimens also varies from 9.87 down to 1.63 due to cut flans. The final question now is the timeperiod. Specimens in Dumbarton were overstruck on Class H, G, and K follis and hence Grierson puts a date to around 11th century.



Zervos' specimen:



I'll talk about Zervos in another post! Stay tuned...

 

I am not sure. There is not enough of an image to ascertain what the host coin originally was, if any...

 

Forgot to add the attribution :

Byzantine Imitation: Anonymous (ca 11th Century) Æ Follis, Unknown Mint (DOC III Bb; Zervos 9-10)

Obv: IC to left, XC with pellet above to right; Bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having quincunx (⁙) in each arm and pellet in each upper quarter, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised in blessing in sling of cloak, left hand holds book, with ⁙ on cover, from beneath.
Rev: IS-XI IAS-IIЄ IAS-IIЄ to left and right above and below of cross; cross on base and two steps, pellet at each end of upper arms

 

Very nice analysis of a mysterious coin!

 

Wow! @seth77 just turned me on to this thread, after I'd gotten an example. Terrific stuff!!!!!

 

Here's a very wild Class B imitation from Italy. The seller suggested it was temp. Robert Guiscard. A very light coin: 1.24g, 24mm. They say that follari like this are mentioned in the text of Travaini's "La monetazione nell’Italia Normanna," but I don't have that book.

What do you think? @Quant.Geek, @seth77, @FitzNigel, @+VGO.DVCKS?