To celebrate the true meaning of Christmas I decided to venture into the Byzantine realm with this Class B Christ Follis from the 11th Century. The package from John Anthony came in the mail today and I was happy to open it and be able to actually hold the coin in my hand, unlike most of the coins in my collection that are slabbed. I can see now why so many people on this forum like their coins raw
Here's one with both Christ and Mary - a Class G anonymous follis. Attributed to reign of Romanus IV (Jan 1, 1068 - Aug 19, 1071) 6.19 g 25.0 mm Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator, IC / XC across bust Facing bust of the Virgin Mary. MHP / ΘV across bust (hard to read on this one) Christ is looking a little stern with those eyebrows. Be good!
Ooh, I believe I almost bought the OP coin a couple weeks back. I opted for a Roman follis instead. Nice coin!!
AH! Cool @KSorbo , you prompted me to remember that I have a few Byzantine coins (I do not collect so late in history, most of my collection focus is BCE). My concept of "Modern Coins" start at 1 AD. Good for you for the hands-on concept of collecting. I STOPPED modern collecting BECAUSE of the slabs. Coins were MEANT to be handled (circulated). Ergo, slabbing turned me off to modern collecting. MODERNS: BYZ Andronicus II - Michael IX AD 1295-1320 AR Basilikon 22mm 2.1g Constantinople Christ enthroned - Andronicus l Michael r labarum DOC V 1 Class VIII BYZ Manuel I Comnenus 1143-1180 CE Aspron Trachy 35mm 4-6g Christ Gospels Labaran globus cruciger Virgin maphorium SB 1966 scyphate
