I don't believe you all have seen this one. Anastasius was a master economist. He reformed the Roman currency and fixed the system around the Gold Solidus. Towards the middle of his reign he increased the size of the follis, why?, I am not sure and records about this reform are vague at best. One would assume that the treasury grew and he wanted to mint a coin that demonstrated the power of the East Romans in the face of the Barbaric west. When he died he left something like 890,000 pounds of gold in the treasury. A testament to fiscal success. What I love most about this coin is the condition. I mean the picture does not do it justice. In hand it really is a piece of chocolate with a perfect patina. I also admired its completeness. In most cases on the small module follis there is not enough metal to fill the die and some of both side's detail is lost. Usually the Officina mark under the "M" and the high details on the emperors bust. Oh man I am thrilled. Anastasius (491-518 AD) AE Small Module 40 nummis (Follis) struck 498-507 AD 23.8 mm x 12.43 grams Obverse: Diademed bust of Anastasius- DN ANASTASIVS AV Reverse: Large M flanked by Stars, Delta Officina - NIC, cross above ref# SB32
Cool pickup, Noob ... I have the same Anastasius host-example, but my coin was curb-stomped by Heraclius Syracuse Overstrike (Heraclius/Anastasius) HERACLIUS Overstruck on Anastasius follis 622 AD
Very cool over strike. I like how both the "curb stomp" and the host coin can be clearly seen. Great piece.
Nice addition, I had one but I unloaded in a trade recently. Would love to have the OP type though. Great portrait.
Rather than 'Last Ancient', I would call this 'First Byzantine'. My candidate for last of the old style 5th century Romans is the 1 nummus pre reform coin that weighs about 1/40th of the large module folles. I wonder if he raised the weight to correct the appearance that the reform was cheating people who were getting a coin marked 40 that only weighed 30??? Mine is 0.46g.
Ummm, do the Vandals count somewhere in the ol' mix? => "Last Ancient, yet before first Byzantine" ... ??? ... (525-550 AD) ... or are they a whole different kettle-o-fish? ... if so, then bring-on the Chocolate Vandal Coin!!
