The obverse of this ancient coin looks quite Roman. But the obverse seems Byzantine with the big letter K and the Cross to left. Could you please explain and help me identify the name of the Emperor? Thank you.. Charles
You can start by reading through the relevant lists here: http://www.catbikes.ch/coinstuff/coins-ric.htm
Thanks. Before posting, I noticed with my magnifier that the Emperor might be Anastasius. So it is an early Byzantine coin. Charles
Charles, yes, it appears to be an Anastasius. He was the one who reformed Byzantine coins to the Follis, half follis, etc scheme. Coins in profile, looking like Roman coins, appear on his, Justin, and some Justinian coins. After Justinian they all look more Byzantine.
The very first coins of Anastasius were like those of his predecessors or even worse. The one above is 0.46g or roughly 1/40 the weight of the large M coins or 1/20 the OP coin. The idea of not having to have a bagful of these little scraps seems really great. Thanks, Anastasius. I do not have one but there are also post reform one nummus coins for Justinian that bear a large A (A=1) but the pre-reform issues of Anastasius had his monogram as we saw on coins of his predecessors. There are very rare ones of these with at least a few letters of obverse legend. Mine is normal but I just realized the reverse is shown upside down. Learn something every day!
