Under Justinian (527-565) the city we know as Antioch changed its name to Theopolis (Theoupolis) "City of God." Obviously, mintmarked coins would change mintmarks. But Antioch changed mintmarks not just once, but many times. Long ago, after I had noticed 5 different mintmarks for Antioch under Justinian, I decided to write a website on them and collect them. http://augustuscoins.com/ed/interesting/Justinian.html It has been a much larger project than I expected! (But, it has been great fun all along.) Here is a recent addition: Sear 229 20 nummi 33 mm. 11.63 grams. Year XG = 16 = 542/3. Mintmark: CH, bar over the CH. (The bar indicates an abbreviation.) Hahn 153. DOC 236. This type is special because this mintmark appears only on coins of year 16 and only on this half-follis denomination. Some authors have drawn the shape of this mintmark as if it had a horizontal at the top, like a T: (e.g. Byzantine Coinage in the East, volume 1). Later there is a mintmark for Theopolis which begins with a T-shape much like that. Sear 221: However, that T-shape is not on any of the Sear 229 half-follis coins. I think that line-drawing shape is wishful thinking invented to insert a T and explain the otherwise hard-to-explain "C". (By the way, the "H" is eta in Greek, not the H of the first two letters in English, "TH". So, that "C" symbol in the mintmark is playing more than the role of just "T", it plays the role of our "TH". I don't know how or why. Does anyone have an explanation for "CH" as an abbreviation for "Theoupolis"? If you want to see a dozen other mintmarks for Antioch under Justinian, see my page: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/interesting/Justinian.html We recently (Sept. 25, 2021) had a long thread on Justinian and Antioch: "Justinian, and the Sufferings of the City of God." The initial post is very informative and well-illustrated. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/justinian-and-the-sufferings-of-the-city-of-god.386897/ If you have anything to show that you didn't just show, we'd like to see it!
Compare the first two letters in the exergue of the coin below. Although the bar of the T is detached, I feel confident that what is intended on the coin in question is Latin TH. Byzantine coins can display an amalgam of classical Latin, cursive Latin, and Greek letter forms - sometimes all in the same word! (Image courtesy CNG)
The bar above the CH indicates an abbreviation. It is very common on Byzantine coins. For example, the IS XS (Jesus Christus) on anonymous folles has bars above on this reverse at the top (This one is Class B): The same words are abbreviated IC XC with bars above in small letters on the obverse (either side of the bust at neck level). Many Byzantine coins have bars above abbreviations (this one is a Class C anonymous follis): The mintmark CHEUP is also on the site with a bar over the H and partway toward the C. Here is the site's example: It is hard to see that bar as a detached part of a "T". If it were Latin, the rest of the word is in Greek -- I don't think the "U" would be in the Latin spelling (but I'm not an expert in Latin or Greek). Maybe @Voulgaroktonou can help.
On this last coin, I see an amalgam of letter forms: Latin cursive t / Latin classical H / Greek EY / Latin classical P / o = theupo[lis]. (edited)
@Valentinian Just went to your web site. Very impressive. Shows a lot of scholarly effort. I will be referring to it over time. Thank you for sharing.
