A large Byzantine half follis

I just got an impressive half-follis of Justinian. The story begins with the coin reform of 538.

In year 12 (AD 538/9) of Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565) the follis (with an "M" = 40, as the reverse type) was reformed and made much larger, c. 40 mm in diameter (It had been c.32-20 mm.). Previous folles had a right-profile bust of the emperor. The reform introduced a facing bust. The first reform coins are huge compared to modern coins. The US half-dollar coin, which hardly circulates, partially because it is too large, is only 30.6 mm in diameter.

For three years (12, 13, and 14) the very large size was maintained, and then folles gradually became smaller and smaller. Justinian reigned to year 39, by which time they are only 32 mm. If you want one Byzantine copper coin to impress your friends (or yourself), think of getting a follis of Justinian from the early years of the reformed coinage.


Justinian, year 13 (539/540) struck at Nicomedia. 40 mm.
DN IVSTINI - ANVS PP AVG
Bust of Justinian in crested helmet facing, holding globus cruciger, cross in right field.
Large M, ANNO down left, X/II/I down right, cross above, B below (second officina), NIK in exergue.
Sear Byzantine 201.

The corresponding half-follis (with a "K" = 20 as the reverse type) started out c. 30 mm. So, even the early reformed half folles of Justinian are impressively large.

This example, 30 mm. is from year 14 and struck at Nicomedia.

DN IVSTINI - ANVS PP [AV]
Bust of Justinian facing, holding globus cruciger, cross in right field
Large K, ANNO down the left, XIIII to right, cross above, NI for Nicomedia below.
Sear Byzantine 203.

Justinian may be the most famous Byzantine emperor. The ancient historian Procopius was a private secretary to Justinian's famous general Belisarius and wrote contradictory histories about the time of Justinian. One was very complimentary and recounts behavior and events that make Justinian worthy of being regarded as a great ruler. On the other hand, Procopius later wrote "The Secret History" which vilifies Justinian in every way imaginable. A week ago I was given a beautiful boxed copy of The Secret History and I am half way through it. No matter how well or poorly some policy turned out, Procopius attributes a bad motive to Justinian. I'm sure some rulers are very bad, but the book is is hard to read because it is so negative. It is interesting that one historian can address the same historical time span in two completely different ways. We know modern reporting can be affected by "spin." One view or the other (but which one?) of Procopius about Justinian is an extreme case.

Byzantine coins are often not beautiful, but the emperors are interesting. I hope you have at least one Byzantine coin you can show your friends--and us!

 

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Those are nice ones, and the 40 nummi is a biggon! All I have is this measly 37mm.

Justinian I
542 to 543 AD (Year 16)
Mint: Constantinople
AE 40 Nummi
Obvs: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, Helmeted facing holding cross and globus.
Revs: Large M, ANNO left. Cross above, xЦI right. CON
35x37mm, 19.09g
Sear 163

 

He was big in year 15 too!
And I love the enthroned type!

 

..no collections complete w/o @ least one or 2 examples i have one M and one K coin..here's Justin and Sophia

 

What a jumbo flan! The first coin in particular is very appealing.

I'd like to get a "plague follis" of Justinian (like the Justinian year 15 Constantinople follis shown by @Milesofwho... or was the plague primarily in his year 14??) because that bubonic plague was such a notable event in history. For now I just have a handful of Byzantines, mostly from a group lot.


Justinian I, CE 527-565
AE half follis, 32 mm, 9.7 gm
Constantinople mint, struck regnal year XII
Obv: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted, cuirassed bust facing, holding cross on globe and shield; cross in right field
Rev: Large K, ANNO to left, cross above, XII (regnal year) to right, officina letter below (E?)
Ref: SB 165


Justinian I, CE 527-565
AE follis
Nikomedia mint, struck regnal year XVIII
Obv: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted, cuirassed bust facing, holding cross on globe and shield with horseman motif, cross to right
Rev: Large M, ANNO to left, cross above, XVIII (regnal year) to right, B (officina letter) below, mintmark NIKO
Ref: SB 201; MIB 112-115. 45

 

Who doesn't love Big Byzantine Bronze? I've got a few of ther large folles, but the one below us by far my favorite, despite the double struck reverse.

Justinian AE Follis, Constantinople mint, 1st officina, 540 - 541 A.D.
23.635g, 39.3mm,
Obv: D N IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, globus cruciger in right, shield on left, cross right, shield decorated with horseman.
Rev: large M (40 nummi), cross above, ANNO left, regnal year X/II/II (year 14) right, A (1st officina) below, CON (Constantinople) in exergue.
DOC I 39a,

 

Here's a Maurice Tiberius - the man responsible for the Strategikon military treatise. It's a bit powdery....

And below, a Heraclius and son....

 

Very nice @Valentinian !

I am so light - "lite" in the Byz area!


BZ Justinian I 527-565 CE AE Folles 30mm 17g 40 Nummi M monogram


BZ Justin I 518-527 CE Copper Folles Antioch 20 nummia K monogram


BZ Anastasius I 491-518 AE Post Reform Folles M monogram

 

@TIF Here is Sear’s date chart for Justinian:
And I realized that I didn’t even give my diameter of my first one! It is 35mm, and weighs around 22.45 grams.
As a side note, do you all write your attributions from memory (as in write the same attributions over and over again) or copy and paste them?

 

Congrats. One of the most beautiful byz follis I´ve seen!

 

TIF... with Byzantine coins... what's going on here? lol

I've got two larger Justinian folles, a Carthage and an Antioch:

I don't really advertise my collecting to people I know in person, but I do love showing off this one here on the forum whenever I can:

 

This half of Antioch (Sear 230) from year 25 is unfortunately well centered but since the obverse dies used for these seem to have been made for full folles the legends are off flan. A coin off center to the bottom would look better with some letters at the top.

Compare:
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=500530

 

I've got a large 20 spot as well, it pretty rough...



Justinian I, AE Half-Follis. 527-565 AD

DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted, cuirassed bust facing, holding cross on globe and long sceptre, cross to right / Large K, ANNO to left, cross above, regnal year to right (year 30?), mintmark e (or P with angled downstroke). Antioch mint. SB 231 25x29 mm, 2.5 g


Here's a follis with a bit of a different obverse..




Justinian I AE follis 529 - 533 AD

o: D N IVSTINI-ANVS PP AVG, Justinian enthroned facing holding long scepter in right, globus cruciger in left r: large M, cross above, star left, crescent right, B below (2nd officina), + THEUP in exergue Theopolis (Antioch) mint SB 214 30 mm x17.8g

 

It's really fun watching all these Justinian coins as I scroll! Nice coins all!

Here's my contribution...


JUSTIN II & SOPHIA
Emperor AD 565-578
Follis struck at Nicole diamond mint
(28.6mm, 12.77g)
Obverse: D N IVSTINVS P P AVG, Justin II and his wife Sophia seated on double throne facing, Justin holds globe with cross, Sophia a cross.
Reverse: Large M, ANNO to left, regnal year to right yI/I, cross above, officina letter A between legs, NIKO in exergue.
Reference: Sear 369

 

Yup, year 15. Here's another one (38.5mm):

 

As I'm still a numis-noob, I still copy and paste from my 11-pg attributions word doc.

 

That's a nice big flan you got there, SA!

 

Thanks! But now that I've seen Warren's and @TheRed's I have flan envy.

 

Twins!

Thank you!

 

By memory, as in the reference books and numbers? Gawd no... my memory for such things is not that good. I look them up the first time and then copy and paste them whenever reposting or re-whatevering. Speaking of, every time I look at my website (which I haven't updated in a year) I find mistakes... some of which were due to copying and pasting the attribution of a previous coin and forgetting to change certain things.