Anonymous Byzantine Follis

I just received this in @John Anthony 's recent auction. It's a coin I really like and was able to procure for $25 + shipping. Similar coins are going for $150-$175 on Forum Ancient Coins, so it was a pretty good value.

Romanus III or Michael IV A.D. 1028-1041
AE Anonymous Follis, 28mm, 12.7 grams
Obverse: EMMANOVHL, facing bust of Christ, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, holding gospels with both hands, to left IC, to right XC
Reverse: Cross on three steps with pellet at each extremity, in fields IS-XS/BAS-ILE/ BAS-ILE (Jesus Christ, King of Kings)
Reference: SBCV 1823

Please post your anonymous folles (or any Byzantine folles you have!)

 

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Great job snaring that Folles @ancient coin hunter ! Super price also. @John Anthony has some pretty good deals / auctions when you work them right!

I only have a few BYZ Folles. Not really a collecting focus, but they are a progression of my Roman Rulers. I just do not get into (my perception) the lower quality of coins and cartoon style designs...


BZ Justinian I 527-565 CE AE30 Folles 12-2g 40 Nummi M monogram


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

 

Anonymous folles are among the most incorrectly priced coins in the market. We know on all coins that condition is everything. When we have a facing bust as on these coins and extremely variable degrees of striking there can be similar coins selling for ten or twenty times as much as others of their type. Where to draw the line for the good and the bad can be hard to determine.

A few years ago I visited (in summer) a small coin shop in Ohio that had bought a 'late grandpa' collection including few ancients and a lot of well worn anonymous folles. They were at a loss what to do with them since their customer base was made up of modern collectors. I suggested waiting until Christmas and putting them out in a dish for $10 each as stocking stuffers. I wonder what they did. I bought one that was better than most and a style of A's I liked. It is a large Class A2. The hole is old. It is hard to say what I paid since my bill was one price for a dozen coins I bought that day. I allotted it $5.


Twenty years earlier was this similar A2 coin that was $25 from a 'real' ancient dealer who knew it was better than coins without obverse legends but still missing face details. Adding that face would have made it a $100 coin. wanted it for the clear Emmanual on obverse.


Third is another full service dealer coin for $29 with better face (flat nose) but no Emmanuel. I liked the beard detail.


Finally, is my favorite anonymous (a smaller A3) with less detail but clearly overstruck on an as of Gordian III that was nearly 800 years old when it was overstruck. The as might have been a $50 coin if it had not been ruined by those pesky Byzantines. It has half decent detail with half Emmanuel and half face so probably would have been a $50 coin were it not for interference from that really old kid. Doing the (new) math we have $50+$50 = $210 to a VCoins dealer. I would have paid more. I have received several inquiries from people on CT and other online venues asking if I want to sell it. It is currently my favorite coin purchased in the last 50 years and I am neither a Gordian or a Byzantine specialist. I would like to see it go to a good home when I am finished with it.

 

Lovely coin. I have always thought that the degree of conservation is not the most important thing in a coin. Is my "first commandment" when I buy...

 

Interesting story Doug. Yeah, it seems like these can vary a lot in price. Some people just want them for the "Jesus" obverse I guess. The one I got is very nice and heavy, has a good patina, and looks good in hand. It would be fascinating to see one in "just struck" condition back in the eleventh century with either a bright copper or bronze finish, but I suppose we'll never know.

I'm not really a Byzantine collector but I pick them up here and there. One day it would be nice to have a coin from each ruler from Caesar up through Constantine XI.

 

I found these 2 relevant Folles in my old folder.

 

I scanned through the CNG anonymous A2 listings and found a couple that exceeded $1000. One was a very nice coin last selling in 2009. Worth $1275? That is a matter of opinion. I hope its owner is happy with it. That is the whole point. Money means different things to each of us. Some live for every penny. Some would rather have the finest Christ follis and do not care what it cost. Whichever category includes you, consider visiting the online resources and see what education they hold.

 

Great coins everyone. Basil II Bulgaroktonos is my favorite Byzantine emperor, and have always thought of it as one of the empire's misfortunes that he never had any children. They couldn't have done any worse than the last of the Macedonian dynasty.

I have one folles of Basil II that I can find a picture of.

Basil II Bulgaroktonos AE Anonymous Follis, Class A2, Constantinople mint, 10 Jan 976 - 15 Dec 1025 A.D.; 15.589g, 35.1mm, die axis180o,
Obv: + EMMANOVHL, facing bust of Christ, wears nimbus cruciger ornamented in each limb ofcross, pallium, and colobium, Gospels in both hands, to left IC, to right XC.
Rev: + IhSuS / XRISTuS / bASILEu / bASILE (Jesus Christ King of Kings), ornamentation above and below legend.
SDCV 1813

 

That's a solid example ACH!

The last one of these I got was rough, it was in a mixed lot with several other coins I really did want....so I just considered it a "freebie".





Anonymous Class E Bronze Follis (Constantine X: 1059 -1067 A.D.)
O: Christ, R: IS XS / bASILE / bASIL, Sear 1855, 25 mm, 8.1 g

 

I got this one in late August:

Class A2, attributed to Basil II ("the Bulgar slayer") and Constantine VIII, 976-1025. Sear 1813.
Dumbarton Oaks lists 60 varieties of symbols in the nimbus, on the gospels, and above and below the reverse legend. More have been discovered since DO was published. This one has, in my opinion, the best variety: crosses.

 

Nice!

 

Here are some of mine including a lead seal that mimics an anonymous follis. I am hoping to get the remaining ones, which are more difficult to obtain...

 

With cross on 2 steps, the following coin of Alexius is thought to be the last flat bronze Byzantine Follis to be issued. 1081 - 1118 A.D. SB 1911. BMC 66-68

 

I´m not in favor of "crimping" such beautiful coins but the ring is spectacular.

 

Dougsmit, What a perfectly marvelous Gordian III repurposed in the middle Byzantine period! It is indeed a prize – thank you for sharing its photo. A very interesting discussion and group of “Rex Regnantium”, or anonymous folles from many members! A photo of one of my Class A2 examples is attached. Indeed condition is as least as much a factor in determining price as rarity, perhaps even more so when it comes to Byzantine bronzes. Many years ago when I was curator of a private collection of Byzantine coins, the owner of which was not bound by financial limits (fortunate man!) I was offered a particularly fine Kyzikos follis of Tiberius II. For years, dealers both domestic and foreign had been sending me for the collection wonderful coins, nearly all of which we kept. The asking price for the Tiberius II was $750. My friend was eager to buy it, but I counseled him against doing so. I felt we had to refuse an offer for once in order to make a point concerning escalating prices that enough was enough. Events proved my advice stupid. The coin went on to be the cover photograph of the Dec. 7, 1989 Berk/England sale of Byzantine coppers and fetched $1600. Yes, I was foolish!

 

Class A3

Class B

Class D w/ Happy Jesus

Class I

@Quant.Geek and @Voulgaroktonou: wow, those are sweet! And of course Doug's, the best Gordie of all time. (As it should be, given that it took nearly 800 years of that time to make.)

 

I like this; but what the heck is it? A ring? A seal? Is it pure gold? Thank you.

 

Oh! It is a ring! It is totally ..totally..Wow!!