A few months ago I purchased several lots of Byzantine coins, but I put it aside since I was too busy at work. While I was tidying up my den at home, I bumped into those lots of coins. Didn't realize the sheer quantity nor breadth of the lot as I kind of gambled on the lots thinking if I didn't like them, I'll just sell them off as the individual price per coin was fairly cheap. I still don't have the time to photograph each and every coin and then attribute them, but I figured I could take a few snaps of some of the coins. Here is one coin that caught my attention today: Byzantine Empire: Anastasius I (491-518) Æ Follis, Constantinople (Sear-21; DOC 231; MIBE 28b) Obv: DN ANASTA-SIVS PP AVG; Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right Rev: Large M between two stars with pellets above and below; cross above, officiana letter beneath; CON in exergue I also have two more lots of Byzantine coins that was delivered a few days ago . So I am not sure what goodies are lying in that one. Only time will tell if I can get to that one in any time soon. Go ahead and post anything you like...
I can't wait to see the rest of your coins. I bet you have some goodies in there. When you're talking lots - how many coins are you talking - an estimate? 100? 200?
There are about 200+ coins spread across 3 to 4 lots with 2 more lots that arrived a few days ago. I usually don't go for lots as I had a few bad ones, but this one seemed to be pretty good. Some smaller Byzantine coins that I was looking for seems to be in the lot, so I am excited about that. The larger coins seems to be a gamble. But the above coin turned out to be a winner...
Another coin, another picture. As usual, it has been overstruck with an earlier follis. The host coin is totally obliterated as far as I can tell... Byzantine Empire: Æ Anonymous Class B Follis, Attributed to Romanus III (1028-1034 ), Constantinople (Sear-1823) Obv: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing with nimbate cross behind head, ◻ in each limb of nimbus cross, holding book of gospels, a dot in center of dotted square on book Rev: IS-XS BAS-ILE BAS-ILE to left and right above and below cross with dots at the ends, on three steps
Anonther anonymous follis... Byzantine Empire: Æ Anonymous Class A2-32 Follis, Attributed to Basil II & Constantine VII (976-1025), Constantinople (Sear 1813; Sommer-40.2.7) Obv: +ЄMMA-NOVHΛ; IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing with nimbate, in each limb of nimbus cross, holding book of gospels, a + on the center of book Rev: + IҺSЧS / XRISTЧS / ЬASILЄЧ / ЬASILЄ in four lines; + above and below
Those anonymous folles will probably end up being sold, unfortunately. I have too many of them already. For instance,
Byzantine Empire: Michael VIII Palaeologos (1261-1282) Æ Trachy, Thessalonica (Sear 2295; DOC V 136-43; PCPC 64) Obv: ΓΟΑΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟC in two columnar groups; St. Demetrius, beardless and nimbate, seated upon throne without back, wearing tunic, breastplate and sagion; holds sword across knees Rev: ΠΑΛΟΛΟΓΟ to left, O above Χ/Μ to bottom right; Full-length figure of emperor on left, crowned by St. Michael, beardless and nimbate. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, collar piece and jeweled loros of simplified type; right hand scepter cruciger; left hand holds anexikakia
I believe most of us will agree that loving Byzantine bronzes will require putting aside our usual expectations of grade. This is made worse by the fact that so many used facing busts which lose noses immediately and eyes soon after. The Anastasius is right facing so a coin worn to fine still has 'parts'. My Justinian below has a similar amount of wear but many who would accept Anastasius would reject the nearly faceless Justinian. Christ type folles are all facing and available in great numbers worth perhaps $10 if you do not require facial features. I do wish there had been some profile Jesus coins that would serve to attract Christian collectors of modest means. A few years ago I was in a coin store far from my home and was shown a large group of faceless Christs he had purchased as part of an estate. You know the sort of collection: There were three Tribute Pennies but all were fake. The dealer asked what I thought he should do with them. I suggested putting them in a dish on the counter at $10 each starting the first of December in hopes of selling stocking stuffers to people who came in to buy buffalo nickels. I even bought one but he only charged me $5. I wanted it for the inverted trident style A it had on the reverse. He realized it might be a while before someone else came in who would want the coin at any price. I always found humor in the way the Byzantines catered to modern collectors. They made these trashy bronzes for the impoverished masses (like me) and gold coins which are usually EF+ for those who are only interested in perfect specimens. There are great rarities among the bronzes that might sell for high prices to specialists but would be rejected by most at a few dollars. Such is the hobby.
That's a nice Christmas present you have yourself there! I have forgotten what coin I have and come home for a coins show with stuff already in my possession. I've mainly done this with my bargain bin modern coins, which I don't pay as much attention to. Here a totally faceless Jesus (happy birthday by the way!)... And a pretty good big ol' Justinian...
That is so true. A good face on a Byzantine facing bust AE is unusual, which is why I recently got this Byzantine anonymous class D follis: Sear 1836. Many anonymous bronzes are overstruck on previous issues making the strike uneven. Many are doublestruck making straight lines crooked. The throne on this one has straight lines, which is by no means assured with other examples. Here are examples I upgraded with the above coin: You can see on the left some of the jeweled cross of the earlier Class C undertype (the outlined dotted line from 8:00 to 2:00) Also an overstrike on a coin of Class C, See the undertype cross on the right, tilted from 7:30 to 2:00 with 4:30 the old top of the coin. Viewed with 10:30 at the bottom you can see the undertype's big "IC" (for "Jesus" almost upside down at 3:00 in this orientation). The throne is weak, as is the image of Christ. The previous two examples are interesting for the overstrike and I like them for their big size and how little they cost, but their negative qualities are apparent and what make them cheap. I like the one at the top much more, but I paid ten times what I could get the others for.
Anastasius I. AE Follis. 491-518 AD, Constantinople, 16g, 34.10mm OBV: DN ANASTASIVS PP AVG. Pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right. REV: Large M, star to left, cross above, star to right, A below. Mintmark CON. REF: SB 19 Romanus III. 1028-1034 AD. Class B anonymous follis overstrike, Constantinople. 10.6g, 31.81mm OBV: IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing with nimbate cross behind head, square in each limb of nimbus cross, holding book of gospels, a dot in center of dotted square on book. REV: IS-XS BAS-ILE BAS-ILE to left and right above and below cross on three steps. REF: SB 1823. Ex: Zurqieh Byzantine Empire, Anonymous AE Follis Class A2, Basil II and Constantine VIII (976-1028 AD) Attributed to Basil II and Constantine VIII (976-1028 AD) Obverse: IC-XC, Bust of Christ holding book of gospels. EMMA NOVHL Reverse: IhSuS / XRISTuS / bASILEu / bASILE on four lines, ornament below. Reference: SB 1813 Ex: Kayser-i Rum Numismatics +photo
Collecting Byzantine coins does requires a certain discipline. As Doug points out, you can't always expect problem-free coins, but trying doesn't hurt either. For my Byzantine collection, I try to get the best condition possible (within budget of course), but sometimes I am more than happy to settle with a lower grade. For instance, I bought the following two coins for a reason. The first coin is quite scarce and hence rarely come to auction. The second coin is also scarce and I had some difficulty acquiring this particular type in several other auctions (blew past my budget)... Byzantine Empire: Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341) Æ Trachy, Constantinople (Sear 2477; DOC 887; Grierson 1426) Obv: Nimbate standing figure of St. Demetrius, holding spear and shield Rev: Andronicus standing, holding labarum and globus cruciger Byzantine Empire: Michael VIII Palaeologos (1261-1282) Æ Trachy, Constantinople (Sear-2283) Obv: Archangel Michael standing facing, holding sword and shield Rev: Michael standing facing, holding labarum and akakia
Looks like the lot will be a blast, I'm jealous! I have a similar dotted Anastasius to the OP: According to Hahn, at the beginning of the last lustrum of Anastasius' reign (September 517), dots were added to all new cut coins. Since Anastasius died 10 months later (July 518), these coins are somewhat scarce. (Mine also has a [barely visible] crescent in the right field, which bumps it to rare... not that anyone is likely to care!)
Reviving this thread because I just got a "pellet" reverse Anastasius follis from Constantinople (SB 21), and this post came up when I was trying to figure it out. I used SA's post here as part of my attribution efforts (thanks, SA!) This came from a European eBay auction, generically described. Post Office note: from Czech Republic to USA Midwest, Oct. 3-29 - not bad! Mine is not like SA's rare crescent type, but these seem to be a bit scarce even with both stars. Apparently these were only issued under Officiana Є. Here is a FORVM listing with more information: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/c...fld=https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins2/ Anastasius Æ Follis n.d. (c. Sep. 517-July 518 A.D.) Constantinople Mint DN [A]NASTASIVS P P AV(G), pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right / Large M, dot over star over [dot ] left, cross above, dot over star over dot right, Є below, CON in ex. SB 21; MIB 28b. (14.52 grams / 31 mm) Notes: "According to Hahn, at the beginning of the last lustrum of Anastasius' reign (September 517), dots were added to all new cut coins. Since Anastasius died 10 months later (July 518), these coins are somewhat scarce." CT - Severus Alexander, Dec. 2017 "Berk notes, "Thus far, no specimens noted better than Fine. "Only the 5th officina is recorded for this type with the M flanked on the left and right by a star with pellet above and below." FORVM
Here is another Sear 21 with pellets above and below the stars: Anastasius, 491-518. Struck 498-518. 33-31 mm. 15.44 grams. Sear 21. BMC 17. DO 23m, page 23, plate IV. Grierson 73, plate 4. Berk 10.