Beautiful Byzantines

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by furryfrog02, Dec 28, 2019.

  1. Voulgaroktonou

    Voulgaroktonou Well-Known Member

    Here are the images from Bendall's Private Collection of Byzantine Coins. His photo is not good. I hope it helps.
    DSCN2691.JPG
    DSCN2696.JPG
     
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  3. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Here is my AV Hyperpyron ND Constantinople Mint
    John V/ John VI
    I used the auction photos
    coin is really horrible strike/ ragged flan:( 2233404l (1).jpg
     
  4. BenSi

    BenSi Well-Known Member

    Not all that glitters is gold.

    This Alexius coin is filled with Mystery, to begin with it was rare , Dumbarton Oakes has only one in its collection. David Sear listed it as a full tetarteron with only a mild rarity , Sommer listed it as a half tetarteron again with minor rarity.

    No examples appear in the excavations of Corinth, Athens and now the Thessalonica excavation of the Metro. We have no real idea where it was minted. Perhaps Cyprus, but no mint at the time of Alexius I is mentioned anywhere.

    It took me years to find one ( My first example was gifted to me by Val , the author of CLBC.) then a handful specimens came to market. I then saw the quandary, I obtained examples from over 5gm down to 1.3gm. Here is one of my Best.

    Happy 2020!

    f3.jpg
    ALEXIUS TETARTERON SBCV-1933 DOC43 CLBC 2.4. Size 21.94mm Weight 3.6gm


     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2020
  5. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    Wow! What a spectacular coin. Its a definite eye popper. Been meaning to get a Roman coin in this condition for a while. Hard to beat that one...

    I would easily take the ragged flan for that coin! That is a very nice strike for these coins...
     
    panzerman likes this.
  6. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    Looks very similar, but you are correct. Its hard to make out the details. Thanks for the picture!
     
    panzerman likes this.
  7. Black Friar

    Black Friar Well-Known Member

    Thanks so much for this thread. I was stunned by the half follis of Anastasius I. What a fantastic coin and yes, very rare. I don't believe I have even seen a worn one over the past 3 decades. Very nice collection obviously assembled with care.
    Bravo and thanks again.
     
    Quant.Geek likes this.
  8. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    That, my friend, is a serious byzantine collector. That collection has a lot of nice rarities that one normally doesn't see together. Just stunning...
     
  9. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Isaac I Comnenus 1057-59
    AV Histamenon ND Constantinople Mint
    Type with him holding sword image30374.jpg
     
  10. BenSi

    BenSi Well-Known Member

    Well, this one is not so perfect. i3.jpg
    ALEXIUS Constantinople Tetarteron SBCV-1920 DOC IV 33 CLBC 2.4.1 Grierson 1042
    OBV
    Bust of Christ, bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion holding gospels (open) in left hand.
    REV Alexius bust facing wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece and paneled loros of simplified type and holds in r. hand labarum-headed scepter and in l. hand Globus crucifer.

    Size 18mm

    Weight 3.8gm

    This coin has an excellent portrait of Christ, Alexius, not so much.
    i1.jpg
     
  11. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

  12. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Theodosius III AV Solidus c9b43bc33b77ca55e50562f9d975b790.jpg
     
  13. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    John, we got to shake you down to get to those Byzantine gold coins! Must have gotten lost with the other gold coins you have... :)
     
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  14. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I am embrassed, sometimes I loose track. I am going to make a master list, while I am sitting at home all Winter "unemployed" but still getting "slave wages"=(0) doing house work:( I have more Byzantine AV coinage (70) then Roman, some of the finest quality ones came from NFA/ Tkalec AG auctions. I still have more to post. I am hopeing to get a decent MS Michael IX/Andronicus II Hyperpyron/ most look like they where fabricated by mint staff high on drugs. I am glad not to be doing snow anymore....what a thankless way to make $$$.:(
    Here is a very common Heraclius AV Semissis...
    19mm. 2.16g. Constantinople Mint lf (65).jpg lf (66).jpg
     
  15. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I'm glad to see that people are still posting their beautiful Byzantines! I'm not sure why, but I wasn't receiving updates to this thread.
    Thanks everyone for sharing such great examples!
     
  16. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    another common emperor to get in MS

    AV Histamenon ND Constantinople Mint
    Constantine X Ducas 1057-69
    obv. Christ seated on throne
    rev. Emperor Standing/holding staff lf (67).jpg lf (68).jpg
     
  17. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Leontius II 695-98
    AV Solidus ND Constantinople Mint
    john photos 1 030 (Medium).jpg john photos 1 032 (Medium).jpg
     
  18. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

  19. AussieCollector

    AussieCollector Moderator Moderator

    I finally did my 'historical pilgrimage' in Greece in December last year, which included two dedicated Byzantine museums in Athens and Thessaloniki. I should get around to posting some pics...
     
    Theodosius likes this.
  20. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    This particular coin was first documented by Justin Sabatier (Sabatier, J. Description générale des monnaies byzantines frappées sous les empereurs d'Orient, depuis Arcadius jusqu'à la prise de Constantinople par Mahomet II) as a barbarous coin of Michael VIII and Andronicus II. All of the known coins are cast from a single die and thus there have been indications that it is a modern fantasy coin. Ratto and Lianta had followed suit and attributed the coin similarly and minted potentially in Cherson (Ratto 2222 and Lianta 611-12). There is a write-up about this coin in CLBC, but unfortunately, I don't have my copy of the book in front of me to give an attribution. My particular specimen came in an auction lot that I purchased a while ago. Whether it is an original cast or a cast of a cast is yet to be determined...

    Byzantine Empire: Michael VIII Palaeologos (1261-1282) Æ Trachy, Cherson? (Ratto 2222; Lianta 611-12)

    Obv: MP - ΘV; Full-length figure of Virgin nirnbate, orans. Cross on breast
    Rev: Illegible legend around; Full-length bearded figure of emperor on left, and of figure in military dress. Between them cross on long shaft (military figure's hand above the hand of the emperor). Emperor wears stemma, divitision, jeweled loros and sagion; right hand holds cross on long shaft. Military figure holds in left hand sword point downward.

    20200105_052024.jpg


    Ratto Plate Specimen:
    upload_2020-1-8_10-42-6.png

    Lianta/Ashmolean Plate Specimens
    Screenshot from 2020-01-08 10-55-09.png
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2020
  21. AussieCollector

    AussieCollector Moderator Moderator

    Hey Panzerman, your coin is perfect! Very typical of the period, with seemingly decent gold content.
     
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