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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 1747091, member: 44210&quot;]After the Byzantine-started Gothic Wars ravaged Italy and wiped out the Ostrogothic Kingdom, the Byzantines made the previously Roman and Ostrogothic capital Ravenna (captured in 540 AD) the main seat of their administration on the peninsula, which was now wholly in their hands (a situation that was to change very soon afterwards with the arrival of a less-than-civilized tribe, the Lombards). It didn&#039;t take the Byzantines very long after their conquest to start to strike their own Italian-mint coins. My latest acquisition is a Justinian I decanummium (10 nummi) struck in Ravenna in regnal year 37 (564AD, the second-to-last year of Justinian&#039;s long reign, which saw the near-restoration of the western part of the old Roman Empire). This coin was one of many reminders to the populace that the Romans had taken back the homeland and former heart of their empire.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><u><b>Justinian I</b></u>, AE decanummium (struck 564 AD)</p><p>Obv: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding cross on globe and shield</p><p>Rev: Large I, ANNO (year) in left field, XXXVII (37) in three lines in right field, Ravenna mint</p><p>SB 326, 15 mm</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/JustinianIRavenna_zpsfbb7db7e.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>(seller&#039;s photo)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Byzantine Empire at it&#039;s largest extent, during Justinian I&#039;s reign (Wikipedia):</p><p><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa429/LurkingNinja/Justinian555AD_zps4080f9a6.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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