An unassuming rarity - Joint Reign follis of Justin I & Justinian

Very much surprised that I won this with only very weak competition, fully described from a well-known ebay seller!

Justin I with Justinian I
1 April - 1 August 527
AE Follis, Constantinople

Obv: DN IVSTIN ET IVSTINIAN PP AVG, Draped and diademed bust right
Rev: Large M, star on either side, cross above, CON below


I wasn't able to find much in the way of interesting tidbits from this brief period of overlap between their two reigns. The elderly (68 years old!) Justin had himself wrestled control of the empire from a host of viable candidates immediately following the death of Anastasius. He ruled over the Byzantine empire for nine years, and not wanting a tumultuous or bloody transfer of power, opted to elevate his nephew Justinian when his health began to fail. Several coin types were minted during this 4 month period, all of which are of course scarce to rare. This one sadly is in rough shape and is a single-portrait type, but IMO is still a very collectible piece.

Are there any more of the type out there? Let's see those coins of Justin, Justinian, or better yet, both together!

 

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That's a pretty cool find!
I don't have a joint reign but here is one of each:
Justin


Justinian I

 

I've shown this one before but since you asked....
Justinian I Kyzikos mint 21.15 gr. 35 mm
RY 18 544-45 A.D.

 

Here's a Justin!



Justin I, AD 518-527.
Byzantine Æ follis, 17.03 g, 34.3 mm, 7 h.
Constantinople, 4th officina, AD 518-527.
Obv: D N IVSTI-NVS P P AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: Large M; cross above, stars flanking; Δ//CON.
Refs: DOC 8d; MIBE 11; SB 62.

 

Justin I & Justinian I. 527 AD. Æ Follis (31mm, 17.90 g, 6h). Constantinople mint, 2nd officina. Struck 4 April-1 August 527 AD. Obv: D N IVSTIN (Є) IVSTINIAN P (P AV), diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Justin right. Rev: Large M; star to left, cross above and to right, B below; CON in exergue. DOC 10a; MIBE 4; SB 125.

 

@Finn235 Very interesting information.
Here are my front facing Justinian I 40 nummus follis coins.
Coin 1 : Nikomedia Mint, Regnal Year = 12, Maximum Diameter = 44 mm, Weight = 21.73 grams.
Coin 2 : Nikomedia Mint, Regnal Year = 16, Maximum Diameter = 34 mm, Weight = 19.73 grams
Coin 3 : Nikomedia Mint, Regnal Year = 14, Maximum Diameter = 40 mm, Weight = 21.53 grams

 

Those are some nice pieces. Nice big bronze is hard to beat. I would
like to collect more, but budget constraints.

 

Here's a rare follis, Antioch, with both co-emperors depicted, crudely, on the obverse.

Byzantine Empire, April-August 527 AD
AE follis, 32 mm
Antioch mint
Justinian I and Justin I (co-emperors)
Obverse: Crowned, draped, and cuirassed facing busts of Justin I and Justinian I; cross above
Reverse: Large M; cross above, stars flanking; Г//ANTIX
Crude near VF, with a nice green and brown patina and much of the legend visible.
Very rare; Justinian I and Justin I co-ruled for five months, ending with Justin I’s death.
DOC 14 var. (officina); SB 129; MIB 10

13.4 grams

 

Great OP coin and I was not aware of the type!

 

Only a Justinian from me.... but at 42.3mm its a lot of history in hand..

Byzantine Empire, Justinian I (527-565) AE follis
Weight: 23.4 gram
Diameter: 42.3 mm

 

This one is an unlisted variety of Justin and Justinian. The type without a cross above the head is rare, but published. This one differs slightly, but significantly, because it has a cross above the head (just above the front of the diadem):



31 mm. 14.94 grams.
Justin and Justinian
Sear 128v from Nicomedia
Hahn MIBE J&J 8v, plate 12.
DOC --
D'Andrea et al. Byzantine Coinage in the East, volume 1, Justin I, 82v
Each reference is to the basic type without the cross-above-head, with the "v" to denote it is a variety. I am unaware of any published reference to this type with the cross.
DN ... + NVS IVSTNV AV
M with crosses left, right, and above, B between legs (only officina B is noted for this Sear Type with three crosses on the reverse. There is another, similar, type from Nicomedia with a * to the left of the M and that is from officina A.)
NIKM in exergue
ex Frank Kovacs vcoins store, November 2004.

My friend Dan Clark collected all pre-Justinian-reform Byzantine cross-above-head coins and I put his collection (since disbursed) on line.

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ByzCross/Cross-above-head.html

He had more cross-above-head coins than all the published major collections put together! Cross-above-head coins are well-known, although not common, for Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian. I'm sure he was very excited when he found one for the rare joint reign of Justin and Justinian.

 

Great coin, most definitely collectable (as you put it)!

I have a joint reign pentanummium:

 

Joint reign....

 

Thanks and nice coins all!

@tibor, Have you checked large lots of Byzantine? It's very much possible to get lots of Anastasius - Heraclius folles for as little as $3-5 each. Not rarities or the 38+mm Justinian folles of course, but most Byzantine folles are quite cheap.