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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2782146, member: 19463&quot;]Traditionally, coin people would place the first Byzantine ruler as Anastasius because of his currency reform that gave us the large M follis in place of a pile of 40 tiny coins.&nbsp; His gold solidi were not all that different from those of the Eastern rulers immediately before or after so I really doubt anyone would start an era with him were it not for his copper coins.&nbsp; This ignores the fact that he issued gold fractions of the solidus as part of his reform so maybe he really is the best place to switch eras from a coinage point of view.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The reform took place in 498 AD.&nbsp; Coins of Anastasius before that date strike me as Roman rather than Byzantine.&nbsp; That makes him, again IMO, both the last Roman and first Byzantine from a coinage sense.&nbsp; We had the same sort of thing at the beginning of the &quot;late Roman&quot; period where Diocletian and his associates issued coins in the same style as his predecessors for several years before giving us the coinage reform.&nbsp;&nbsp; Below is what I consider to be a very late Roman nummus of Anastasius issued in the style of the earlier 5th century Romans with monogram reverse. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]643840[/ATTACH] </p><p>Were these coins also made after the reform along with the M, K, I and E denominations?&nbsp; I have not seen a one nummus denomination with the expected A reverse.&nbsp; Does it exist?&nbsp; I can not prove that my coin is pre-reform but that is my opinion.&nbsp; (I might add that there are a few of these that have a letter or two of obverse legend but my example is pretty much what you see on a regular basis.)&nbsp; It is what I consider my latest Roman coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>There are studies of the coinage reform that address the weight standards but I have not read them.&nbsp; Does anyone know how to tell a 491-497 solidus from a 498-518 one?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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