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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2524896, member: 19463&quot;]Mikey Zee posted the above to another thread but I moved it here to begin a new thread I hope will be found interesting at least to the general collectors among us.&nbsp; The question is what selection of coins would do well to represent a particular genre better than just a random handful of coins, in this case, Byzantine coins.&nbsp; I will post here what I consider to be an overview of Byzantines and note what I believe I am missing that would make my group a better representation of the whole.&nbsp; You are asked to tell me what you think I have overlooked or could have done better.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>My first Byzantine selection seems appropriately from Anastasius who coin people will call the first Byzantine Emperor even though his claim to fame is more that he issued the first large M folles than actually starting a new Empire.&nbsp; &nbsp; I was going to include an Anastasius follis but CT only allows ten images per post and I ran out of room.&nbsp; What I show for Anastasius is his last pre-Byzantine AE4 nummis that was so small that he decided that the big forty nummi denomination was a good idea. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]538777[/ATTACH] </p><p>We do have to have a need for one of the large M coins so we might as well have one of the largest ones from Justinian I year 13 or 14 when the peak was reached.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538780[/ATTACH] </p><p>...and a smaller denomination just to make the point that they existed.&nbsp; This is a ten nummi of Justinian.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538779[/ATTACH] </p><p>Next I feel the need for a coin that shows the emperor and empress together. This is a Justin II and Sophia 20 nummi (picked because it is a denomination not used above and also a third different mint city just to mix things up). </p><p>[ATTACH=full]538781[/ATTACH] </p><p>Somewhere along the way we need to acknowledge the fact that there were gold coins even though my collection habits and budget will not have many of them. This is a solidus of Focas.&nbsp; If your idea of a Byzantine collection is all gold, you might want to throw in a bronze here and there.&nbsp; I need a silver coin of this period but I do not have one.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538782[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Next I wanted to demonstrate that the later days of the big M coinage got smaller and messier with coins overstruck and clipped to keep up with the weight standards.&nbsp; When it comes to overstrikes my favorite is this triple with design showing from Heraculius, Focas and Tiberius Constantine.&nbsp; Most coins were overstruck but there is a special place in my heart for one that allow clear identification of the components.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538811[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This is a Constans II cut down from earlier coins.&nbsp; It is overstruck but the feature that gave it a place here is the straight clips around the edge.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538783[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Should we mention that Byzantine coins were copied by neighboring authorities like this bilingual one from Emesa?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538784[/ATTACH] </p><p>Along the way there are some really odd Byzantine side trips like this Basil II cast from Cherson.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538785[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>After the big M period ended we see folles with a lot of text on the reverse like this Leo VI.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]538786[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>I should have known I could not do this in ten coins.&nbsp; The rest will follow.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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