Anyone collect Byzantine Empire coins?

I realized there are a lot of separate opinions regarding this. Yes it was the Roman Empire and the Hellenic world became merged with the Roman world and the ethnic Greeks called themselves Rhomaioi until the very end. However there has formed a distinct culture over the year, heavily influenced by the orthodox religion and different from the Roman Imperials. After the end of the "dark ages" (ca. 7 to 8th centuries) the Empire took the "character" that western historiography calls "Byzantine", different from the Western Romans, and the predominance of the Greek language against Latin was almost total. The ethnic Greeks still recognized themselves as descendant from the Hellenics and the Latin language never replaced Greek as the language of communication among people, of philosophy, science and the church. Was the Byzantine Empire a direct continuation of the Roman Empire when looking at my last sentence? I would say no, that is I think the reason historians "invented" the term Byzantine Empire since there is a clear distinction.

They were Romans i.e. Citizens of Rome, being part of the Roman Empire (eventhough after the 7--8th century it got a complete different character), but still ethnic Greeks and still they considered themselves descendant of the Hellenics. You should also not forget, Hellenics were pagans, those orthodox Greeks did not want themselves to be considered a pagan, and being a Hellenic was a dirty term as an Orthodox Christian.
During the Ottoman Empire, all Orthodox people in Greece and the Balkans (including Bulgarians, Albanians, Vlachs, Georgians and Serbians) were all called "Rum" i.e. Romans part of the "Rum Millet" i.e. Roman Nation. For that reason ethnic Greeks by default continued to call themselves Romans after 1453. There were so many different ethnics in that millet, yet the Ottomans consider them all birds of a feather.

Regarding people calling themselves Rhomaioi after WW1/Balkan wars is because the nationalistic awareness started in the 19th century, all around the beginning of the Hellenic state. Places like Lemnos (where this 1912 quotation is from ‘‘No, we are Romans.") were not part of this "Hellenic state" until 1912. The locals were not fully consciousness raised and the the children fell back on the Byzantine and Ottoman default. They just did not know yet those "Hellenics" were actually the same people as them, the nationalist consciousness just took a while to propagate and did not reach Lemnos until 1912.
I have a unique family name from Epiros and a book is written about it by one of my family members and there they called themselves a Roman as well all the way till the liberation from the Ottomans. I recall Greek quotation as in "I will die as a Roman" or "I will die as a Greco". It was not just Lemnos, but all parts that were still under Ottoman rule after 1821. The Ottoman empire still existed yet in 1827, the Greeks at the third national assembly at Troezen established the Hellenic State (Eλληνικὴ Πολιτεία). They were not any different then all the other people living in the Ottoman ruled Greek parts in that time.

 

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A smattering of fun coins. They are all Good, Bad, and especially UGLY and can be all three at the same time. Ok, a bit carried away.

 

@panzerman thats the most Canadian thing I’ve read on this site. Amazing collection of high grade Byzantine solidii.

 

Yes, I am a true blue German/ but adopted the "Canadian Winter". We never had a Winter in the Rheinland/Pfalz, where I was born. The Winter was more like Fall here in Canada. Snowmobiling is that wildwest sort of fun sport. The trails are fully groomed, most of us go full bore. I love speed and often go 100+ mph.....great fun.

 

I do miss it living in Aus now. Sleds are fast now.

 

Eastern Roman Silver


ER Andronicus II - Michael IX AD 1295-1320 AR Basilikon 22mm 2.1g Constantinople Christ enthroned - Andronicus l Michael r labarum DOC V 1 Class VIII



ER Manuel I Comnenus 1143-1180 CE Aspron Trachy 35mm 4g Christ Gospels Labaran globus cruciger Virgin maphorium SB 1966 scyphate

 

Goodness am I late to this! I am very interested in Byzantine money and the Byzantine Empire itself. I think this primarily comes from how not many people mention the Byzantine Empire as much as they do Greece or Rome, and how it preserved knowledge across the centuries. My initial collecting criteria was that I would buy a follis or trachy of the best emperor from each dynasty. It’s still incomplete but only because I have been looking for very particular coins. Most of these have been posted by others so I will refrain from full attributions. In addition, there is this Latin issue trachy.
And one of Alexios I.

 

I regard the beginning of the Byzantine Empire at 395 when Theodosius split the Empire between his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius. Here is one of Arcadius. (Note to self: merge more)

 

I agree, 395AD is realistic, when Eastern/ Western divisions. However for true Byzantine most still start with Anastasius I 491. For me 395 is correct date, since Eastern Roman Empire =Byzantine.

 

There are few old coins as cool as the huge year XII and year XIII folles of Justian (image courtesy CNG).

 

I only have one at the moment, but it’s a nice Zeno !

 

Dear @Stanw891, Here's a story you can share with your class: Years ago I attended a lecture by a noted Greek scholar of Byzantine history. He described the incident that led to his devoting his life to Byzantine studies. When he was a young child, the island he lived on was liberated by the Greek navy from the Turks. As the Greek marines were dismounting from their boats and coming ashore, he like hundreds of other Greeks were shouting out “Οι Έλληνες, οι Έλληνες”! (the Greeks, the Greeks!). A marine approached him and replied “Δεν είμαστε Έλληνες, είμαστε Ρωμαιοί”. (we are not Greeks, we are Romans”. I guess his story hooked me, too.

 

You should check out my paragraph above where I fully explain this, because I see there are some different understandings about this. It is not like some people think it is. I am Greek myself and spoken with many historical educated Greeks about this. People calling themselves Rhomaioi after WW1/Balkan wars is because the nationalistic awareness started in the 19th century, all around the beginning of the Hellenic state. Places like Lemnos (where this 1912 quotation is from ‘‘No, we are Romans.") were not part of this "Hellenic state" until 1912. The locals were not fully consciousness raised and the the children fell back on the Byzantine and Ottoman default. They just did not know yet those "Hellenics" were actually the same people as them, the nationalist consciousness just took a while to propagate and did not reach Lemnos until 1912. In 1827, the Greeks at the third national assembly at Troezen established the Hellenic State (Eλληνικὴ Πολιτεία). They were not any different then all the other Greek people living in the Ottoman parts in that time.