Byzantine 40 Nummis Justin II & Sophia

Well, it arrived today (a bit later than expected), so as promised here is my newly acquired Justin & Sophia:



Nothing spectacular, but cute little coin and the price was more than right. Very attractive patina and the couple is clear enough on the obverse. Small and chubby coin as you can see in the photo.

Quite interestingly (and surprisingly for a Byzantine copper) it comes with a provenance as an old collector's ticket was included. It appears that this coin was purchased from Irvin Hoiland in August 2000 for 150 NOK. Didn't get much from searching the name, but NOK apparently stands for Norwegian Kroner, so maybe @svessien can help?

 

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The only dealer named Høiland that I’ve dealt with, was Thomas Høiland Auctions of Copenhagen. But then payment would have been in Danish kroner.
Høiland («Highland») is a very common name in both Norway and Denmark, but Irvin more common in Denmark and rarely used in Norway. Another rarity is Norwegian coin dealers with ancient coins in their inventory. My guess is that Irvin Høiland ran a coin shop in Denmark, and that a Norwegian collector bought it there for 125 Danish kroner/12£/150 NOK.

 

An update to the half follis that came in today....


Byzantine Empire: Justinian I (527-565) Æ Half Follis, Theoupolis (Sear-225; DOC 208.4; MIBE 135)
Obv: D N IVSTINI-ANVS P P AVS; Justinian enthroned facing, holding long scepter with his right hand and globus cruciger in his left
Rev: Large K; to left, cross dividing T H/Є Ч/O/P; Γ to right

 

Nice looking coin you got there. Those chi-rho types are apparently heavier than the cross types. A while back I posted what little I could find out about this:


"A couple years ago when I first started in on Byzantine coins, I read our local library's copy of Byzantine Coins by P.D. Whitting. There I found a reference to a chi-rho variation of the very common Justin II-Sophia follis from Constantinople (Sear 360).

Here is the quote:

"The copper follis comes down sharply in weight and size during the reign...with an average weight of 13.5 g. There was, however, at Constantinople from the 5th regnal year onwards, a heavier issue (by a gramme) in parallel, distinguished by a Chi-Rho above the M on the reverse, as against the usual cross."
(Byzantine Coins (1973), by P. D. Whitting, pp. 111-112)


https://www.cointalk.com/threads/by...h-chi-rho-above-m-special-heavy-issue.324682/

 

Some nice coins of Justin II shown. Here's a smaller denomination, a decanummium of Carthage:

Obv: (fragmentary legend); Facing bust of Justin holding shield
Rev: Large I between V / S to left and IT / IN (N reversed) to right

The lettering to the right is also reversed and is supposed to be TI / NI (this error is not unusual for the issue), which then spell out I-V-S-TI-NI

 

I love this "Victorians in togas" genre. Alma Tadema is among my favorites. If you know the artist of these 2 paintings, please advise! Thanks

 

Antioch issued in years 1 and 2 of Justin II an anomalous copper series, the obverse of which is modelled upon that of the solidi, i. e., one having a bust of the emperor holding a victory upon a globe instead of the more frequent enthroned figures. (An aside to this is that my wife, trained in Classical Greek art, sees the enthroned pair as space aliens, and considers this evidence that extra terrestrials interbred with humans in the eastern Mediterranean in late antiquity, but that is merely an aside, and I am not entirely won over to it.)

N. B. Photos are not to scale: I have managed to make the half folles larger than the folles! Please see descriptions of individual coins for accurate size.

Top row:
1. Solidus. Constantinople, 565-78. 4.40 gr. 21 mm. 6 h. Sear 345; H. 5; DO 4a.
2. Follis. Antioch, 565-6. Year 1, officina 3. 18.15 gr. 34 mm. 5 h. Sear 378; H. 55b. An unusual feature of this coin is that the bust is bearded. Ex Protonotarios collection.
3. Follis. Antioch, 566-7. Year 2, officina 3. 17.01 gr. 33 mm. 5 h. Sear 378; H. 55b.

Middle Row:
4. Half Follis. Antioch, 565-6. Year 1. 8.27 gr. 29 mm. 11 h. Sear 380; H. 58a.
5. Half Follis. Antioch, 565-6. Year 1. 10.25 gr. 27 mm. 5 h. Sear 380; H. 58c.
6. Half Follis. Antioch, 566-7. Year 2. 8.19 gr. 28 mm. 11 h. Sear 380; H. 58a.

Bottom Row:
7. Quarter Follis. Antioch, 565-6. Year 1. 4.72 gr. 22 mm. 5 h. Sear 382; H. 62; DO 147b.
8.Quarter Follis. Antioch, 566-7. Year 2. 2.68 gr. 19 mm. 4 h. Sear 382; H. 62.

Hahn notes that the appearance of the stars accompanying the years on coins 2,3, 5, 7, 8 below alludes to the consulate of 566. Only the folles bear officina numbers. I have not attempted to reproduce the eccentricities of the obverse inscription of the copper coins; it is enough to state that they continue the tortured ineptitude of the final years of Justinian’s Antiochene coppers.

 

Here is a Justin II and Sophia from Carthage, year 8 = 572/3:



32-30 mm. 20.11 grams. Large and heavy!
Obverse has "VITA" in exergue.
Reverse has "KAR" for Carthage in exergue, V/III to right, and "S" below the "M", possible for Secunda (second officina).
Sear 393. MIBE II 73. DOC 198.