The cross on the obverse of this Byzantine coin inspires the Holiday season of Christmas. I think it's from the anonymous series struck in the second half of the tenth century. But I'm not really sure since we use to find the face of Jesus on such coins. I cannot even translate the Greek legend on the reverse. Hope someone can do that. The coin weighs nearly 3 g.
I'm mostly helpless with Byzantine, so I've got nothing useful to add, I'm afraid. I'll just say that I like the patina on this piece- that's about all I've got. Some of these types do seem to come with that nice earthen look.
its this one http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=155622 Alexius I Comnenus. 1081-1118. Æ Follis . Type A. Thessalonica mint. Struck circa 1081-1087. Cross potent on two steps; pellet at each limb; barred IC-XC/NI-KA in the angles / +/CЄP CVN/ЄPΓЄI BΛ/CIΛЄI AΛ/ЄZIω in five lines (first Є barred). DOC 19; SB 1911. the reverse translates to :" Saviour, help King Alexius "
arnoldoe is correct but might have pointed out that the original photo of the obverse was shown upside down and the flan so small that NI KA and the base of the cross was lost.
