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<p>[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 3526084, member: 44316"]For well over a hundred years numismatists have regarded the coin-reform of Anastasius as the beginning of Byzantine coinage. The solidus denomination didn't change significantly after Constantine for hundreds of years. Silver was hardly issued in the fifth century and later until well into the Byzantine period. So the one significant dividing line is the reform (actually two successive reforms, 498 and 512) of Anastasius, 491-518. </p><p><br /></p><p>Coin catalogs from the BMC (1908) to DO (1966) to Sear (1987) use Anastasius. Almost all coin auction firms do the same. This debate and poll may be interesting, but the question has long been decided for numismatists. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here are the three copper coins involved in the two coin reforms of Anastasius, to scale. The first is the 1-nummis piece in circulation in the fifth century. Late in the century there was no larger copper denomination, there was almost no silver being minted, and the solidus was of nearly-pure gold and worth about 6000 of the tiny copper pieces. There was no denomination convenient for mid-range use. Anastasius reformed the copper to include a 40-nummia piece (M = 40 in Greek numerals) [the second coin].</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]936938[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>These three are 8-9 mm, 25 mm, and 35 mm. Sear 13, 16, and 19. The first reform (in 498) created a "40" piece (a "follis") that was only about 8-10 times as heavy as the "1" piece. This provoked dissatisfaction and a second reform (in 512) which created a much larger (but still not 40 times as heavy) piece that sufficed. (To distinguish the two sizes, the first is called "small module" and the larger is called "large module.") Also, 20-nummia, 10-nummia, and 5-nummia pieces were issued. Over the following decades the sizes of the denominations decreased gradually until the famous coin reform of Justinian in 538/9 again increased the sizes and introduced the facing-bust (instead of profile-bust) types. </p><p><br /></p><p>In many ways the change from "Roman" to "Byzantine" was on a continuum. The fact that the dividing line is worth debating proves there is no obvious dividing line suitable for all purposes. However, for our purposes as numismatists, the emperor who introduced the 40-nummia follis, a most common denomination of Byzantine coins for 500 years, is the first Byzantine emperor.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 3526084, member: 44316"]For well over a hundred years numismatists have regarded the coin-reform of Anastasius as the beginning of Byzantine coinage. The solidus denomination didn't change significantly after Constantine for hundreds of years. Silver was hardly issued in the fifth century and later until well into the Byzantine period. So the one significant dividing line is the reform (actually two successive reforms, 498 and 512) of Anastasius, 491-518. Coin catalogs from the BMC (1908) to DO (1966) to Sear (1987) use Anastasius. Almost all coin auction firms do the same. This debate and poll may be interesting, but the question has long been decided for numismatists. Here are the three copper coins involved in the two coin reforms of Anastasius, to scale. The first is the 1-nummis piece in circulation in the fifth century. Late in the century there was no larger copper denomination, there was almost no silver being minted, and the solidus was of nearly-pure gold and worth about 6000 of the tiny copper pieces. There was no denomination convenient for mid-range use. Anastasius reformed the copper to include a 40-nummia piece (M = 40 in Greek numerals) [the second coin]. [ATTACH=full]936938[/ATTACH] These three are 8-9 mm, 25 mm, and 35 mm. Sear 13, 16, and 19. The first reform (in 498) created a "40" piece (a "follis") that was only about 8-10 times as heavy as the "1" piece. This provoked dissatisfaction and a second reform (in 512) which created a much larger (but still not 40 times as heavy) piece that sufficed. (To distinguish the two sizes, the first is called "small module" and the larger is called "large module.") Also, 20-nummia, 10-nummia, and 5-nummia pieces were issued. Over the following decades the sizes of the denominations decreased gradually until the famous coin reform of Justinian in 538/9 again increased the sizes and introduced the facing-bust (instead of profile-bust) types. In many ways the change from "Roman" to "Byzantine" was on a continuum. The fact that the dividing line is worth debating proves there is no obvious dividing line suitable for all purposes. However, for our purposes as numismatists, the emperor who introduced the 40-nummia follis, a most common denomination of Byzantine coins for 500 years, is the first Byzantine emperor.[/QUOTE]
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