Anyone collect Byzantine Empire coins?

An argument could be made that Constantine I was the first Byzantine emperor...

 

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Hi Gam,

To answer your question..."Does Anyone collect Byzantine Coins" ? Yes indeed as you can see by the response. In fact they are my drug of choice. The first time I saw one I was hooked to coin afraid (it's ok to groan).

A coin shop I hung around was speciallizing in ancients. One of our local dealers was Tom Cederland and just starting out doing shows and such and needed money. He brought in a group of ten coins that Ken (not his real name) purchased. He new I was looking for something to collect as I was tired of US stuff as I finished my US type set and other collections such as Walkers.

I walked in and he said he thought I should look at the group which were all Carthage mint. I had no idea a the time that Carthage was a tough group to collect, there just wasn't a lot around. So, I said "yes please" and purchased the lot for $300. That was in 1983. None of them were folles. It took me forever to attribute them properly.

In due course there was only one book at the time that beginning collector could afford, David Sears Byzantine Coins and their Values, the edition before the current First Edition, upgraded. I started hunting for other books but most of the good ones such as DOC was very expensive. I of course purchased David's book. I also subscribed to dealer lists such as Harlan Berks buy or bid offerings. Anytime I saw a new dealers auction catalogues I requested them and built my library with them. Eventually I did get the DOC (Dunbarton Oaks of nine volumes.

Today of course is a collectors dream with the internet availability a fantastic tool.
We are still a very small but committed group. It sook me several years before I found another one, and not local. I'm still able to cherry pic as I know more about them than most dealers.

The advantage I had was the fact that dealers junk boxes in the 80's were a Byzantine collectors wild west. They had no time to deal with such ugly coins which I was very happy to pay a few bucks for. By the way, I still own nine of the ten coins, I sold one by mistake. It is interesting to me that I only collect bronzes though I do have five or six gold items. Good silver is now getting expensive. The most affordable are the issues of Heraclius and Constans II, and John III.

It is a challenging field due to the longevity of the Byzantine/Romaion period. So many choices and coins, so little time. So my advice is find a niche that interests you whether bronzes, silver, or gold. Look at a lot of dealer sites, and local as well as national gatherings which because of the virus are non existent for now. There are many ways to satisfy your jones, taste and see. This is my hobby, I do it for fun. If you haven't done it yet Vcoins will keep you busy.

 

The problem for me with base metal coins is that it’s really hard for me to see the design.

I like the silver & gold coinage because usually the design is preserved and easy to see.

 

Sometimes bronze coins can be hard to photograph and don't look like much in the picture. But when you hold a 35 mm Byzantine bronze in your hand, you can really see the design and appreciate how cool they are.

 

I collect Byzantine copper (among other series), but not gold.

I could not bear to add only a few coins a year to my collection. By collecting copper I can add far more coins that are just as academically interesting, if not as beautiful. I can pull a Byzantine history book off the shelf (I recommend the author John Julius Norwich), read a bit, and think, I have a coin of that emperor.

An introduction for beginners is here:
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Byz/

The story of Byzantine Antioch under Justinian is fascinating, and better told with copper coins than with gold.



Large. 39 mm. 20.77 grams.
Justinian (527-565). Year XIII = 13,
minted at Antioch after it was renamed Theoupolis
ΘYΠO abbreviating "Theoupolis" in Greek.
ThUPOlis
Officina Γ (= 3) below the middle of the M
The obverse legend is
DN [Dominus Noster, our lord]
IVSTINI-ANVS
PP [PerPetuus] AVG
Sear 218.

The story of Antioch and its coins under Justinian is told here.

 

I know what you mean but to be completely honest my eyesight is bad and so I like gold & silver coins because it’s easier to see the design on the coin if it’s gold or silver than if it’s copper.

I might buy 1-2 gold coins a year and then several silver ones.

What can I say? I just think ancient gold coins are beautiful.

 

No one can argue with that!

 

Thank you! I like yours also.

 

Thanks for that, @lordmarcovan --I for one bookmarked it.
Here's a broad overview, but including the (Very, Very Good) popular historian John Julius Norwich, along with a couple of academics. Closer to 50 minutes; good for multitasking at the keyboard.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00547j9
There are also segments on Justinian's Plague and Code, and I'll bet there's more. If you go to the Archives from the show's home page, you can look around under 'Rome,' 'Early Middle Ages,' and 'Medieval.' 'Rome' has this one and the two Justinians.

 

I was out snowmobiling....

Here are a few of mine....

 

I think my heart stopped. Holy cow those are beautiful. Cha-ching sound $$$ lol. Thank you for sharing.

 

You can almost check the most of the coins from the reign of Anastasius and onwards here:

http://labarum.info/lbr/index.php?s...Search&sf_state=&sf_ruler=&sf_mint=&sf_denom=

If you want to see how they look like in video and size:

From 13:00


From: 1:28:


Remember the size of gold vary. Solidus look like a fabric, but a histamenon is like a concave pizza.

 

solidus by iameatingjam posted Mar 11, 2021 at 8:23 PM

Wow some nice coins in this thread. My first solidus is in the mail. Even they really are too expensive for me to collect... I just wanted to have one. Though I guess thats how its starts

 

Not a focus of mine yet, but I do like Byzantine coins. If I see something cheap
and interesting I'll pick it up. These 3 trachys were about $4 each.
I have about half a dozen coppers folles around somewhere too.

 

Few more....

 

I could agree with you more! The history of the Eastern Roman Empire is so important because they preserved and built upon knowledge that was destroyed in the west during the Middle Ages. If it were not for the Byzantines, there would be no renaissance. Sadly, I think part of the problem with the lack of study of their history is the separation that historians have made between it and the Roman Empire. I understand that it morphed into a unique identity, but so have other civilizations that kept their name/identity. If you asked a Byzantine what they were in 1453...they would have said Roman (in Greek of course haha). Even after the Balkan Wars and WW1, the Greeks that lived in many of the former Ottoman Empire outside of Greece proper still referred to themselves as “Romani.” I teach History to at risk students in an urban area, and trying to explain this is enough to make my head spin (and I LOVE Byzantine history). I have been trying to just keep saying it is Roman, but all the texts written call it Byzantine. I think if they didn’t make that name change, it would be easier to wrap our heads around this fascinating civilization!

 

Those are beautiful coins!!