New Miliaresion of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus

Constantine VII (913-959 A.D.) was one of the longest reigning Byzantine rulers. The Purple-Born, he was a scholar and author of four popular books: De Administrado Imperio, De Ceremoniis, De Thematibus, and Vita Basilii.

In 949 Constantine launched a new fleet of 100 ships (20 dromons, 64 chelandia, and 10 galleys) against the Arab corsairs hiding in Crete, but like his father's attempt to retake the island in 911, this attempt also failed. On the Eastern frontier things went better, even if with alternate success. In 949 the Byzantines conquered Germanicea, repeatedly defeated the enemy armies, and in 952 they crossed the upper Euphrates. But in 953 the Hamdanid amir Sayf al-Daula retook Germanicea and entered the imperial territory.

The land in the east was eventually recovered by Nikephoros Phokas, who conquered Hadath, in northern Syria, in 958, and by the general John Tzimiskes, who one year later captured Samosata, in northern Mesopotamia. An Arab fleet was also destroyed by Greek fire in 957. Constantine's efforts to retake themes lost to the Arabs were the first such efforts to have any real success.

Type: AR Miliaresion, 24mm 3.7 grams

Obverse: Cross on Steps, IhSUS XRISTUS nICA

Reverse: CONST'T'/PORFVROG'/CE RWMANO/EN X•W EVSEb'/b' RWMEON in 5 Lines within triple border

Reference: Doc 21, Sear 1757

 

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Nice find, ACH!

 

Here are all my coins from his reign..


1 Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus with Zoe. Struck 914-919. SB 1758.
Constantine VII and his Mom/Regent
2: Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus Struck 919-920?/ 919 SB 1759 --
these were struck after Romanus I gained control of the Byzantine Empire and banished Constantine's mother Zoe, but Romanus let Constantine VII remain "Emperor" and Constantine was still on the follis for a little bit..
3 Romanus I Struck 920-944 SB 1760
began to be struck when Romanus made Constantine appoint him the Co-emperor and Romanus's older age gave him seniority over Constantine VII.. For the next 24 years Romanus I appeared alone on the follis..
4 Constantine VII Struck 945-50 SB 1761
in 944 Romanus's sons overthrew him (because he was going to let Constantine VII succeed him) and sent him to a monastery, but this didn't go over very well with the people of Constantinople, so they revolted against the sons of Romanus and they too were exiled to monasteries... Leaving Constantine VII as the sole emperor at the age of 40 after a lifetime of being a puppet emperor..
5 Constantine VII and Romanus II Struck 953-959 SB 1762
Then in 953 Constantine added his son+ new co-Emperor Romanus II to the coins..

 

Great coins @arnoldoe !

 

I have all of the gold and silver of his reign. The reason I got interested in them is they are the first coins to name Christopher on an ancient coin, (my name). They are also the first to name Stephen. I spent nearly a decade searching for a silver Christopher. It appears on both silver and gold, but like almost all Byzantine coins the silver is much rarer than the gold, (though of course the gold costs more).