Featured The Classification of the Anonymous Class B Follis of Romanus III

Lately, there has been a ramp up in the interest in the ornamentation of the Anonymous Class A2 and A3 follis, but very little has been done with regards to the Class B follis. Among the seminal work in this regards is Orestes H. Zervos' The Substantive Varieties of Anonymous Folles of Class B as published in Nomosmatika Khronika No. 22/2003. Zervos identifies 8 types of ornamental differences in the Class B folles while purposely ignoring two sub-types that are commonly found.

Zervos' classification is based on the total variations that were found during the excavation of Corinth. As such, some of the uncommon follis is assumed to be minted in provincial mints that might include Corinth itself.

Zervos Type B-1

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having square in each arm, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised in blessing in sling of cloak, left hand holds book, with on cover, from beneath
Rev: IS-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in small letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps




Zervos Type B-2

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in small letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps




An extremely rare variation that I personally know of four specimens, plus the two mentioned by Zervos.


Zervos Type B-3

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having with a central pellet in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in small letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps



Only one specimen was noted and I am skeptical about this one as I have seen follis of this type with only one arm having a with a central pellet. This seems to be an oddity of the common type below.

 

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Zervos Type B-4a

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a square in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in small letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps




Zervos Type B-4b

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a square in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in large letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps




Zervos Type B-5

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a elliptical pattern with above and below in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in large letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps




Seems to be an extremely rare variety and I have not see this outside of Zervos. Very peculiar...


Zervos Type B-6

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a or similar, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised in blessing in sling of cloak, left hand holds book, from beneath
Rev: IS-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in large letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps

no known image


Zervos Type Bb

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in large letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps



Classified as an imitation from Southern Italy.

If there are others, please let me know. As for Zervos-4b, there are two other sub-types that have dots on the four corners of the square, either as or floating separately. I am going to classify these as Zervos-4c and Zervos-4d.

 

The reason why I needed Bates and Morrisson was to verify some of the classifications that Zervos made. He references these two works to further classify some of the coins, like B-6 which supposedly is documented in Morrisson. Zervos' paper can be downloaded from the following link:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-varieties-of-Anonymous-folles-of-Class-B.pdf

 

Zervos Type B-4c (not classified, but mentioned in paper)

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in large letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps




Zervos Type B-4d (not classified, but mentioned in paper)

Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having a square with unattached to each corner in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in large letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps

 

with a central pellet, but I don't know if I would classify this as a Zervos B-3 or a common Zervos B-4d. A better specimen would clarify the confusion, but its quite scarce or rare to find...

 

Another imitation that is different from the ones illustrated in DOC and Zervos:

 

Plate coin for Zervos B-3 showing a clearer central pellet:



and the plate coin for Zervos Bb, an imitation. The above picture got lost during my edits:

 

Really ugly Picture, but this coin has a black patina so I lite it up for detail. This coin does not fir into any of the examples above, Note the dot on the cross but in the center and on the ends. The nimbus of the Christ Side has rectangles in it

 

I never pay attention to the nimbus ect, but are more interested in finding rare types i.e. class L, M, or N's.
Here is a | ○ | blank | or | ○ | • |


And a B-3 without the center pellet in the square.


Otherwise I have B-1, B-3, B-4, and imitations.

 

There has been two additional types that have been identified since I posted. Lets call this one Zervos-B7:



and one with corrupt legends Zervos-B4e:

 

I tend to agree, but the minor variations are cheap to obtain . The B-2 type above was one that I have been searching for a while. Missed out on a Savoca Ebay auction a few months ago at it went for a dirt cheap price too. This one is the best of the known lots , even though I like the restrike from the paper:

 

I would love to see a clear picture! I want to document all these variations and I am sure there are more...

 

Found another type - Zervos-B8

 

Going back to Zervos Type B-6 which isn't illustrated, @Valentinian sent me Morrisson's description of that coin with its ornaments:




That coin, I believe, is an example of this coin that was found during an excavation. I am still waiting for confirmation from the discovery team with a better image of the coin. I am also trying to reach out to Bibliothèque nationale de France where the coins of Morrisson are kept. I wonder if @Voulgaroktonou might help since he knows Morrisson

 

This is the best I could do with this one Ram, Patina is super dark.

Here is another I own but I believe it already fits above.

 

I Just got Zervos notes on class B, its a pamphlet, I know I have posted this one above twice before but with the dot in the cross in the middle on the reverse it would make it a new class?
BTW the Zervos work was published in 2003

 

The Savoca auction today was a bit crazy and very competitive for some coins I had my eyes on. I lost several lots, but did manage to get this one. It is one of the scarcer Zervos types, specifically Zervos B-3. It is far better than the specimens I have seen to date

Byzantine Empire: Æ Anonymous Class B Follis, Constantinople (Sear 1823; DOC B.1-64; Zervos Type B-3) - Attributed to Romanus III (1028-1034)
Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, with cross nimbus having with a central pellet in each arm and 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-XS ЬAS-ILЄ ЬAS-ILЄ in small letters to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps
Dim: 29 mm, 9.32 g

 

Looks like mine is a boring B4a! (Though it does have nice sleeve decorations.) I must say I'm a bit skeptical those lines above the arm are a hand raised in blessing. Looks more like drapery to me... what do you think?

 

Its really Obi-Wan Kenobi..

 

Grrr...

Was the only coin I bid on the Savoca auction yesterday. If you want a double, or only for your records, I can point you to another one. Congrats for the coin, it has a good home. I do not appreciate the Bs enough to grant them much attention (or money).