Here are the images from Bendall's Private Collection of Byzantine Coins. His photo is not good. I hope it helps.
Here is my AV Hyperpyron ND Constantinople Mint John V/ John VI I used the auction photos coin is really horrible strike/ ragged flan
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! ALEXIUS TETARTERON SBCV-1933 DOC43 CLBC 2.4. Size 21.94mm Weight 3.6gm
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...
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.
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...
Well, this one is not so perfect. 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.
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...
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
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!
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
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...
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. Ratto Plate Specimen: Lianta/Ashmolean Plate Specimens