Anonymous Byzantine Follis Series, Another way to judge the rarity of this popular series.

One more source to add , I should have done this one in the beginning. Sommer catalog written 2010, He gave 3 categories for grade, as will use the lowest S fine, prices in Euro. That would be comparable to the Sear values and perhaps also the judge in rarity.

Class Price

A1 30
A2 20
A3 15
B 20
C 30
D 40
E 75
F 75
G 35
H 60
I 30
J 40
K 40


He seems to put E F H as his rarest.

Here is an A3 I won last year.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

@medoraman This was an interesting statement that you made. Would you mind sharing some of the varieties that you are aware of? Photos would be great - or links to the photos.

Of course, if you do share, you might have competition for these in the future

 

@BenSi - thank you for sharing these price guides. I agree with others that none of the classes are truly rare, but the rarest (based on market availability) seem to be Classes F, H, and J. I think Class E is also rare, but unlike the others this class seems to be available in higher grades and is generally not overstruck on other coins (an interesting fact in and of itself!). The other three seem to me to be extremely difficult to find both in good condition and not overstruck.

As proof of this, this Class J sold almost a year ago for $950 hammer ($1,121 after the 18% buyer fee) - 8.3gm 22mm.

 

I cannot remember the reference. There is a publication documenting many of these varieties. I do not pursue them, so would welcome anyone to pursue them.

That is a fantastic Class J. Regarding overstrikes, you are correct. Metcalf specifically notes Class F and J are many times undertypes for later issues, leading to their scarcity. None may be rare, but finding a F, H, or J you like it not like picking up a nice Alexander tet. It will take some time.

 

While it is a factor on most coins, these folles show two kinds of rarity. There are coins that are hard to find period! Also there are coins that are easy to find but hard to find in a grade that even non condition oriented people would want. Call me strange but I prefer facing portraits of Christ with eyes and a nose. I also like legends. We have seen some very nice coins on this thread that have both but not all these are equal in both types of rarity especially when we consider the number that were overstruck leaving something of a mess.
This is my J. No face, not obscured by undertype but not pretty. Also it cost $17 (2015) rather than $1121.


I have two I's. Neither has a nose. I was unaware there were subdivisions. Do they show on coins of this level? What causes something to rate being a sub type rather than just a die variation? IDK. If you are a general collector who wants just one Christ follis, you probably want a really nice A2.

 

Thank you for letting us know. If anyone else is aware of this publication, can you please post a link? I'd love to read it.

Good question, Doug. In my opinion, if an anonymous follis of Classes B-K has similar ornamental variations (to the nimbus arms, book cover, or reverse ornaments), then I think it deserves to be called a variety. I looked through my files and found this photo I saved from a 2009 auction of a Class I with a different book ornament (3.0gm) that I would call a Class I variety.

 

This one has a flower-shaped ornament.



I am not aware of any subcategories for Class I, and I do not believe that categorizing Class I will have any success.

I am aware of subcategories for Class B that Zervos did at one point. Those do not have success either (my opinion). After reading about this split, I looked for class B-3, the rarest, and found 4 within one month. One is still for sale 6 months later (140 EUR in VF). I do not remember ever seeing Class B-5, but that might be because I never looked for it specifically.

For some reason, only class A subtypes have some success. Even so, I did not see any recent work to update the tables in DO, although new types appear on the market. It was a try on the Forvm to keep track of those, and even that seems to have stopped.

Edit: Adding to the above, I am curious to what extent other specialists dissect and collect varieties of one Sear number for byzantines.

 

I do not think many pursue Byzantine varieties. I went through my own Class I when I read about this publication and found at least 4 different varieties. Not really my type of collecting, but thought I would mention it for anyone who wanted an interesting and low competition subcollection. I liken it to the Bruck publication for late romans. Cool collection idea that few follow, so someone can form a world class collection of them by variety for little money.

I will try to see where I read about them. It made perfect sense, since Class I was a huge issue that commonly comes in higher grades with intricate floral decorations on the reverse. That is where almost all varieties are at, in the floral decorations.

 

Look at your two I's. Clearly different varieties. I could point out 5 differences on the reverses. Again, not my speed of collecting really, but would love to see a large collection of them.

Btw, nice J. Let me know if you are ever bored of it. I will pay you more than $17

 

Picked up two Class Js and a Class F follis over the week to increase my currently holdings of these two types of coins. The Class Js are always dogs, but these aren't too bad. The Class F is a lot better with a good portrait of Christ...

 

Anonymous, Time of Basil II, AD 976-1025. Æ Follis (36mm, 19.36g, 6h). Constantinople mint, Class A2. Obv: +EMMA-NOVHA; Nimbate (X and two pellets in arms of cross) facing bust of Christ, raising hand in benediction and holding Gospels; IC-XC across fields. Rev: +IhSUS XRISTUS bASILU bASILE; -•:•- above and below. Ref: DOC III A2.48; SB 1813. Very Fine, nice brown patina, large flan. Ex CNG 109 (2 Mar 2005), Lot 272.

 

That middle Class J I am jealous of, exceptional reverse.

 

Not bad for a $20 pickup including shipping. I have a few of them now, including the two below:




but my Class H takes the cake...

 

We veered over to the rarer coins of the series but tonight I was checking out the class B, I have several examples that I acquired for one reason or another, but none are perfect.

This one is a nice chunk of metal. Nice brass. The cross is straight.


This is a really nice example with a multi struck reverse.


This one has been in my collection because of its color, it has a orange red tone, I have no other coins like it. Still a big mess.



Another, notice they all have the rectangle in Christs nimbate. I wonder if other devices exist.