I have a website on Byzantine coins from the Cherson mint (at Sevastopole in Crimera in the north Black Sea). http://augustuscoins.com/ed/Cherson/index.html Over the past couple of weeks I have replaced the photos with better and larger photos and made some minor changes to the exposition and navigation. Here is one of my favorites from that mint. The distinctive "H" type: "H" is "8" in Greek. The coin is a 40-nummia piece, marked as a 8 pentanummia. 8x5 = 40. Follis. Large. 33 mm. 14.69 grams. This type has been variously attributed to Justin II and Sophia (AD 565-578) or Maurice (602-610). The attribution is discussed at length on that page. Sear 605. Legend XEP-CONOC ("Chersonos"). Two nimbate standing figures, left one holding globus cruciger, right one with long cross, cross above and between Reverse: standing figure, nimbate, holding long cross-rho, large H (for "8" pentanummia = the usual 40 nummia of a follis) to the right, cross above. The obverse legend names the mint city, but not the emperor, which is highly unusual. Some of the attributions of coins found in the Crimea are disputed. AE2 types of Theodosius II, Valentinian III, Leo I, Verina, and Zeno are found only in that region, but may have been minted in Constantinople and shipped there exclusively. Valentinian III, AE2. 22-21 mm. 4.72 grans. CONCORDIA AVG [sic] Mintmark CONS (Ns retrograde) Sear Roman V 21184 Some types of Justin I and of Justinian have blundered legends such that it can be hard to tell which of those two is intended. And several types have a "rho-omega" monogram for "Romanus," but there are four Byzantine emperors with the name Romanus (I, II, III, and IV) and some of the attributions to one or another have changed since Sear was written. Byzantine coins from the mint of Constantinople and a few other mints are very common. The types from Cherson are less common and range from different to remarkably different. Show us some coins from the Cherson mint!
I really like that mint too. I have too many side collections, so unfortunately only own maybe a dozen of so, mainly cast issues later on. Your top coin is a VERY nice example of a rare and expensive piece. Nice coin!
I have this Chersonesos coin of Theodosius II, in excellent condition, the imperial brothers holding hands - and holding a cross. 22 mm, 4.16 gr.
