Check out this interesting follis from my recent Byzantine scoop: This coin has a mirror image feel in hand that attracted me to it right away. At first I thought the obverse was struck, rotated 180 degrees, and then struck again. After looking it up I am pretty sure it is a Constantine VII overstruck on a Romanus I follis but rotated almost a perfect 180 degrees. According to Sear, this is a common overstrike and there are a few details that confirm this on both the obverse and reverse. The "+cons..." on the obverse legend was the clue that helped me identify it. The "normal" Romanus I should look like this: The "normal" Constantine VII should look like this: Looking at the obverse of my coin you can see Constantine's jeweled loros with its dots within squares. I would post a picture of my own jeweled loros but it is at the dry cleaners at the moment. Looking at the upper half of my coin you can traces of Romanos decorated sleeve. Looking at the reverse of my coin you can see the first two lines of the Constantine legend followed by a mashup of predominantly the top two lines of Romanos legend rotated 180 degrees. Here is the full attribution of the coin: Constantine VII “Porphyrogenitus” 913-959 CE AE Follis. Constantinople. 4.3 gm, 26 mm. Obverse: +CONST' bASIL' ROm. Facing bust of Constantine VII with short beard, wearing crown and loros, holding globe cruciger and Akakia (a cylindrical purple silk roll containing dust). Reverse: +COhST' / Eh ΘEO bA / SILEVS R / OmEON. References: Sear 1761. Overstruck on a Romanus I follis (Sear 1760). This picture gives you a little better idea how mirror like the obverse is: As many have pointed out, the Byzantine series is loaded with overstrikes, which makes them that much more interesting to me. I know you have been dying to know what "Porphyrogenitus" means. It means the first son born after the father has ascended to the throne of the emperor. Please post any overstruck coins that caught your attention! John
Fantastic overstrike! 180 degrees makes for an entertaining effect. My favourite Byzantine overstrike is this Tiberius III Apsimar (698-705), SB 1366, overstruck on Leontius, SB 1334: And although you didn't ask, here's my Romanus I and my Constantine VII. Literally, it means "born in the purple."
It looks the obverse of your Tiberius III Apsimar was struck on the reverse of the Leontius and vice versa. It is cool how Leontius appears under the reverse type of Tiberius, if I am seeing this correctly. Those are nice, well struck Romanus and Constantine pieces! It is weird for a series to be more common as overstruck than not, but it seems a lot of these are like that. John
I am very attracted to the idea of overstruck coins as long as we can figure out what the two contributing types were. This one seems exactly as you diagnose. I am a bit more fond of the ones where the obverse fell on the old reverse like SA's Tiberius III simply because they are easier to sort out. Some make me wonder why it was deemed necessary to overstrike since they so poorly erase the undertype. I also like overstrikes that were clipped down to a new, lower weight standard. of these, the king of clips IMHO is the follis of Constantine IV cut in quarters and each quarter struck into a half follis (K) by his son Justinian II. That made four 20 nummi (=80) out of one 40 nummi. These are relatively common while the whole originals are scarce. Often it helps to make a photo of the coin with the top oriented for the undertype rather than the final strike. This follis of Heraclius has the heads of the standing figures form the last use pointing right making the top of the head of Focas and legend OCAS much easier to see. What makes this coin special is the 'TIb' at obverse left which is what remains of the coin on which the Focus was overstruck. Unfortunately I am not certain if it was Maurice Tiberius or Tiberius Constantine. Finally, you really did not think I could pass the chance of showing (again and again) the Anonymous A3 follis overstruck on an as of Gordian III which was about 780 years old when reused. I would love to know where Gordian spent all those years and how it came to be recycled. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/f18.html
Here are my Constantine VII coins.. You never see SB 1758 or 1759 overstruck.. but 1760-62 are always or almost always overstruck.. 1 Constantine VII with Zoe. Struck 914-919. SB 1758. 2: Constantine VII Struck 919-920? 1759 -- 3 Romanus I Struck 920-944 SB 1760 4 Constantine VII Struck 945-50 SB 1761 5 Constantine VII and Romanus II Struck 953-959 SB 1762 Yeah, to be a Porphyrogenitus you had to be born in the "Purple Chamber" in the Palace of Constantinople
@Theodosius: That is a very cool (and a bit freaky) overstrike! What are the chances for the moneyer to rotate it 180° for that to happen. These things come in and it just gets hammered without much thought... @Severus Alexander: Another cool overstrike, especially with the scarce Leonitus host coin! @dougsmit: I still love that Gordian III Anonymous follis. You should probably add me to the list of wanters Here are some of my favorite overstrikes: Heraclius & Heraclius Constantine overstruck on Phocas & Leontia . 610-641 / 602-610. Æ follis (26.89 mm, 8.78 g, 6 h). Host coin, Theopolis (Antioch) mint, 602-610 / after 610. overstrike, Thessalonica mint. Overstrike: fragmentary, d N hЄRA[CLIЧS PP AVG] Host coin, also fragmentary, [O N FOCA] NЄ PЄ [AV] , Overstrike: Heraclius (on left, and Heraclius constantine, barely visible on right) standing facing, each holding globus cruciger, cross between their heads Host coin: Phocas on left and Leontia standing facing; Emperor holds globus cruciger, Empress holds cruciform scepter; cross between their heads / Overstrike, large M between A / N / N / O and date (not struck-up), cross above, B below, ΘЄC in exergueHost coin, large m between [A / N /] N / O and date (unclear) cross above, ThЄЧP' in exergue. Host coin, Cf. SBCV 671; Overstrike, Cf. SBCV 824. VF for type, dark green patina on devices, lighter encrustation on fields - overstrike at ~ 90º ccw. I don't have the host coins readily available currently, so stock pictures will have to do for this particular coin: Sear 671: Sear 824: Byzantine Empire: Æ Anonymous Class A1 Follis (ca. 969-976 CE), Attributed to John I Tzimisces, Constantinople (Sear 1793; DOC A1.6-10) Obv: Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator Rev: + IҺSЧS/XRISTЧS/ЬASILЄЧ/ЬASILЄ in four lines below Overstruck on a Constantinople mint follis of Constantine VII and Romanus I (SB 1760), itself overstruck on a Constantinople mint follis of Constantine VII and Zoe. Here are the host coins: Byzantine Empire: Æ Anonymous Class A1 Follis, Attributed to John I Tzimisces (969-976), Constantinople (Sear 1793) Obv: +ЄMMA-NOVHΛ; IC-XC to right and left of bust of Christ facing, holding book of gospels, with nimbus Rev: +IҺSЧS / XRISTЧS / ЬASILЄЧ / ЬASILЄ in four lines Byzantine Empire: Constantine VII (913-959) AE Follis, Constantinople (Sear-1760; DOC 25) Obv: RWMAN bASILEVS RWM; Crowned, bearded, facing bust of Romanus, wearing chlamys, holding labarum and cross on globe Rev: RWMA - N EN QEW bA - SILEVS RW-MAIWN; Legend in four lines Byzantine Empire: Constantine VII - Porphyrogenitus and Zoe (913-959) Follis, Constantinople (Sear-1758) Obv: COnStAnt' CE ZOH b. Crowned busts of Constantine, wearing loros, and Zoe, draped, holding patriarchal cross between them. Rev: +COnS/ tAnTInO/ CE ZOh bA/ SILIS RO/ mEOn. Legend in 5 lines.
@dougsmit Thanks for the post! Taking a photo with the undertype oriented vertically is a good idea, I will remember that. I agree that knowing the undertype makes a big difference in appreciating the coin. I showed your overstruck Gordian to my wife and she was as amazed by it as I have always been. Like you said, where was Mr. Gordian all this time for him to get overstruck so many years later. Makes you wonder if any copper coin of about the right weight would pass in circulation for hundreds of years without much quibble. I would be totally thrilled to find something even close to this. John
@Quant.Geek : I really like your Heraclius & Heraclius Constantine overstruck on Phocas & Leontia. It is cool how the coin was rotated by almost exactly 90 degrees before being overstruck. Your other coins are also very nice, I need to study them more. John
Happy Greetings.. All I know about the following Follis of Justinian is that it was overstruck. But I don't know when and how?
Looks like it is from Constantinople mint but the undertype is not clear to me at all. Rotating it does not suggest what it is to me.
