Hm….. I have a pseudo byzantine that resembles like chrismat71’s one just with dirt on it: I don’t know anything about that except that it was made of Non-Byzantine organ. - No Sear reference number. Did the Vandals in North Africa, or Goths/Lombards in Italy also make Byzantine imitative copper coins? or was it only the Arabs?
that's pretty cool herberto, it does look like it's imitating a coin of constans ii doesn't it? I'm not sure as the the answer of you question, @ValiantKnight would be the fellow to address that. from some his posts here, it seems like some resemble earlier coins (like zeno/anastasius era). here's one of his threads from last year, I remembered this coin.. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/aww-yeah-got-me-some-barbarian-silver.256510/
It seems that supplies of Byzantine copper coins to the caliphate were cut off about the time of Constans II, thus his coins served as a prototype for many Arab-Byzantine issues. The Arabic on the obverse right is bi-Hims ("of Hims"; modern Homs in Syria, the ancient Emesa). This type was struck at Hims from circa 685 until about the year 693 when the caliph 'Abd al-Malik finally removed any remaining Christian symbolism with the introduction of the "standing caliph" type.
Hi @Herberto .. Yours appear very characteristic of Arab Byzantines. First take would be the design. Unlike chrismat71's I can't see the Arabic legends clearly but it does not discount their origin. As for the other imitatives, you can check the following link for examples of other imitatives... It appears the others also imitated Byzantine copper coins but their designs are quite distinct http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/Imitative/t.html
Arab "pseudo-Byzantine" coins are more-or-less faithful imitations of Byzantine coppers, relatively crude in style, struck from about 647 into the 680s. The piece shown above imitating a half-follis of Justinian belongs to an earlier period. Unlike the bilingual coins and the standing caliph pieces, the pseudo-Byzantine issues may or may not have had official sanction.
True.. thus the varied styles. Official issues would need to be Constans II or Heraclius. . Justinian would have lived or died hundreds of years before this period and his follis/half follis is much bigger. Therefore these could not be an official issue.
Here was the description when i bought it: "PSEUDO-BYZANTINE.7TH CENT AD.AE.FOLLIS. AFTER CONSTANS II ( AD 642-668).~~~ STANDING IMPERIAL FIGURE PSEUDO-BYZANTINE.7th Cent AD.AE.Follis. after Constans II ( AD 642-668). ( 2.53g, 22.1.mm, 6h) fragmented EN TOYTO NIKA legend, standing imperial figure, crowned, holding long cross in right hand and globus cruciger in left. Reverse.cursive letter M, to left downward VNSto right OVUN,in exergue(C)O(N), above cross. Modeled after folles DOC class 1-7." I only bought that coin because i was forced to in order to reach over a certain limit before the seller wanted to post coins. - I bought a Byzantine Cherson-mint for 8 Euro, but the limit was 10 euro to post. - So i bought that pseudo as well because it was cheap and as well because i did not have an imitative coin. So that was an Arab-struck coin in order to maintain monetary economy? - That was what i had in mind even before i read that post. Thanks.
I have a few of these types of coins, but unfortunately, not the type that was posted by Herberto. Still on the lookout for the other types, but getting good quality ones seems to be a bit of a challenge, in both, the pocketbook and your eyes. Here are mine: Umayyad Caliphate, Arab-Byzantine: Anonymous (685-692 AD) Æ Fals, Hims (Emesa) Mint (SICA 1, 548; Album-3524; Walker-64) Obv: Bust of Emperor (Constans II?), facing, wearing a diadem surmounted by cross, paludamentum, and cuirass; in his right hand he holds a globus with cross; at left, Greek ΚΑΛΟΝ (Good); at right, downward, Arabic بحمص (Emesa) Rev: Large m; star between two wavy lines above; at left, EMI; at right, CHC; in exergue, Arabic طيب (Good) Umayyad Caliphate, Arab-Byzantine: Anonymous (685-692 AD) Æ Fals (Album-3501; SICA I, 505) Obv: Emperor Heraclius in center, with his sons Heraclius Constantine (on right) and Heraclonas (on left) standing facing, each wearing a crown with cross and long robes, and each holding in right hand a globe surmounted by a cross; traces of outer circle Rev: Large M; staurogram above; officina mark Γ below; left downwards ANNO; right downwards XЧII; below exergual line mint-signature KVΠP (= Cyprus); outer circle Umayyad Caliphate, Arab-Byzantine: Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (685-705 CE) Æ Fals, Halab (Aleppo) Mint (Album-3529; SICA I, 615-625) Obv: Caliph standing facing, holding hilt of sword Rev: Modified cross potent set on steps; بحلب (bi-halab) in Arabic upward to left, واف (wāf) in Arabic downward to right
A contemporary imitation. The Greek legends are both blundered while the Arabic is reasonably good. Interesting piece. Contemporary imitations of Arab-Byzantine coins turn up with some regularity, demonstrating that a degree of disorder remained in the economy despite the state's efforts toward establishing a regular currency.
Resembling the standing Caliph of Quant. Geek, this Arab Byzantine coin could be struck in Damascus as seen to left of reverse. But I'm not sure if I'm reading well. It doesn't read Aleppo.
Hmmm... when I look at the Arabic in my previous post on my laptop using chrome, it looks just fine but on my phone, using the Android browser, it's backwards. I wonder if there's a way that just 'works' across platforms? Aggravating.
Here is a recent acquisition of a later Arab Byzantine AE Fals. Arab Byzantine Fals Ummayyad Caliphate - Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan (AD 661 - 680) Three standing figures type. Tabariyya (Tiberias) mint. Dual lingual in Greek and Arabic. Nice full strike on wide flan.
Notice they changed the cross here? This would likely be a later standing Caliph type of the Ummayyad.