Justinian (527-565) reform coins (Impress the uninitiate)

Justinian (527-565) reformed the copper coinage, introducing in his year 12 a huge new type with a facing bust where the bust had been in profile before. The reformed coin is often 40 mm and sometimes up to 42 mm in diameter with "XII" in the reverse to the right of the "M" which is "40" in Greek for the denomination--40 nummia. He had a long reign and coins of his year 39 are known. As time passed, inflation gradually reduced the size. Here is one from the Nikomedia mint from year (ANNO) XXXI = 31 (557/8 AD).



Sear 201, year 31, officina A.
32-31 mm. 15.17 grams. 6:00 die axis (Most Byzantine AE has 6:00 die axis or close to it.) It is smaller than the earlier pieces, but still larger than a US half-dollar (which is only 30.6 mm and 11.34 grams)

If you show an ancient coin to an friend who is unfamiliar with ancient coins, a very big coin is sure to impress. Ptolemaic copper "man-hole covers" fill the bill. So do coins from this series under Justinian.

Show us a coin that will impress someone who is not initiated into the club.

 

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Once you tell someone the date they are stunned.

 

Or my Year 15.

 

Nice coin, Warren & lovely coins too, Milesofwho.

 

Nice!

 

That is a beautiful Justinian follis, @Valentinian. Nice catch!

Here's a coin that has impressed many people. "Coins with Christ on them that are 1000 years old? You must be joking me". Nope...



And here is the latest Justinian follis I have: year 22 from Constantople. This one is just under 20 g and has a diameter of about 34 mm.

 

A Romanus anonymous folle, facing bust of Christ, reverse, Jesus Christ, King of Kings. Quite a large and chunky coin.

 

This one usually gets a lot of attention because of who is depicted on the obverse.

Marcus Antonius

 

I also got a gold solidus of Justinian I , got in CNG few months ago.

 

10x diameter difference: Tetartemorion from Lampsakos, c. 400 BC (6mm); and Xian Feng (1851-1861), 100 cash, Suzhou mint (60 mm).



Somehow people aren't that impressed with my Cleopatra. I just don't unnerstand it.

 

My only XII is a worn Cyzicus at 40mm. The problem with a facing bust is the face is soon lost.


This XIIII Nikomedia is still large at 38mm but has a better face.


This XV Constantinople is still 39mm

 

I thought my wife might think some of my tiny or large coins were cool, but not so much. (She thought I was silly for spending so much money on the tiny coins) Here is the only ancient coin of mine that my wife has actually stopped, picked up off my desk, and asked me questions about.




Manuel I Commenus, 1143-1180 AD, billon trachy

O: Christ, R: Manuel and Mary. SB 1966, 26 mm, 3.3 g

I don't exactly remember if it was this coin, but it was a Byzantine trachy. She just thought the shape was cool.

 

Great thread! Hope to see more!

 

Nice idea @Valentinian ! Great coin to illustrate a nice piece of change!

"Show us a coin that will impress someone who is not initiated into the club."

I find folks cannot wrap their heads around BCE, however, most of my collection is skewed to BCE. Additionally, size of coins seem to impress people initially.


Carthage AE 15-Shekel 45mm dia 7.5mm thick 102.6g vs Ionia AR Tetartemorion 4mm 0.13g
diameter 11 to 1
Weight 789 to 1

The 15-Shekel's THICKNESS is almost TWICE the DIAMETER of the Tetartemorion.

 

I thought this thread was restricted to the reform coins of Justinian. WoW.

 

Probably because it doesn't fulfill their fantasies of Hollywood and Liz Taylor. Who would have thought she was ugly and still accomplished so much? And that dumb story about the carpet....well, reality is not as interesting as fantasy in some cases.

 

I think it's more because the coin is an ugly piece of dreck.

 

My Justinian, year 14, Constantinople.

It’s a huge 38mm, 36g.

 

...and not so ancient, but the biggest in my collection ever:

Swedish plåtmynt, 4 dalers, Avesta, 1713
From Nicobar Wreck. I don’t remember the dimensions and weight at this moment, but is something about 2.2Kg.

 

Awesome!!!