Just recieved this decent Half Follis of Justin II & Sophia from Thessalonica, but I'm having trouble pinning down the date. At first glance, I see an I (1) before a G (6) which would indicate it to be 6-1=5... But why not use a U (5)? There also appears to be another raised line before the more prominent I... Could this be another I? Is this 6-1-1=4? What does your experience and brain say? What does your gut say? What would you bet it is? Thanks in advance for any opinions! PS - I picked up this Half Follis to go with my other 2 Folles of the couple:
You'll be interested in this article about dating Byzantine coins. That reads IU. I think it would be 6. From the article:
That's right, I remember now seeing you or Warren or someone talking about how the order of numbers can actually go illogically backwards, too. I do think that is a G (high, curved left sid ) and not a U, but do you see a second I farther to the left of the more apparent one? And thank you, @Roman Collector! That's a great resource!!
It's astonishing how many of these are misattributed, making the same confusion between U and G as I did.
Very interesting. I also have a follis of Justin II and Sophia from Nicomedia...the seller listed it as Year 6 (UI), but after reading this, I now think it may actually be year 7 (GI). What do you guys think?
Unlike Roman numerals, regnal years are always added, not subtracted. Yours is year 5 with a probable die break before making it look like a one. Or at least that is what it appears to me. I have one such coin where I precedes Ϛ (1+6), but that is very rare and not listed for this type.