Solidus
from Justin I, 6th century From www.byzantinecoins.comByzantine Coins Lecture Notes
The History Leading up to Byzantine Coinage
• The Byzantine Empire considered itself a continuation of the Roman Empire, differing only that it was Christian and used Greek in speech. Most elements of Byzantine coinage came from the Romans, with the exception that they used Latin for the inscriptions (an amusing side note-some mint engravers would lapse into Greek on their inscriptions. There are many examples of Byzantine coins with a mix of Greek and Latin characters on them)
• Much of the coinage of the Roman Empire disappeared during the great currency inflation of the late 3rd century, and not much was produced during that time.
• A new system took shape during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine the Great (284-305/306-337). This new system was based on the gold solidus and some other denominations of silver, billion (debased silver), and bronze. The names and denominations of most of these coins are not known with certainty.
• The Constantine coinage collapsed during the barbarian invasions in the early 5th century.
• By the time of Anastasius in 491, only the solidus, semissus (1/2 solidus) and tremissis (1/3 solidus), and a tiny copper coin called the nummus (1/7200 of solidus) had survived.
• In 498, Anastasius introduced a series of multiples of the nummus. The most important of these is the follis (worth 40 nummi). The follis was used extensively for the next 6 centuries and its creation is considered a good starting point for the history of Byzantine coinage.
Periods of Byzantine Coinage
• There are roughly 4 different periods of Byzantine coinage.
• The first runs from 491 through the mid 8th century.
• It is characterized by 3 denominations of gold coins (solidus, semissis, and tremissis), 5 denominations of copper (follis, half-follis, decanummium, pentanummium and nummus) and one of silver from 615 on (hexagram).
• The second runs from the 8th to the late 11th century. At this time the monetary system was simplified to one coin of each metal: the gold nomisma, the silver miliaresion, and the copper follis.
• The third covers the monetary reform of Alexius I in 1092 to about the end of the 13th century. There were several denominations of debased metal called trachea that were concave instead of being flat. A base (or unpure) gold coin called the hyperion replaced the nomisma, an even baser gold coin (electrum trachy) replaced the tremissis and trachea were created in base silver and eventually copper. There were also two denominations of small copper coins (tetarteron).
• The fourth covers the 14th century to the fall of the Empire in 1453 and saw the complete disappearance of gold coins and a return to the use of pure silver coins (basilicon, stavraton and half-stavraton)
Weights and values of byzantine coinage
• The system used to weigh and value coins was based on that of the Roman Empire and was used throughout Byzantium.
• The gold solidus was the basic unit of coinage and all other coins were valued in relationship to it.
• The solidus = 1/72 of a roman pound or 24 carats (a carat was the weight of a carob bean or ~200 milligrams)
• The miliresion = 1/12 of a solidus or 2 carats
• Copper coinage varied considerably 1 Solidus=2 Semissis=3 Tremissis=7200 Nummus=~180 to ~300 Folis (depending on the period)=12 Miliresion
• see the article Dominations of Roman and Byzantine Coins
Byzantine mints
• Under Anastasius I there were 4 mints, but by the time of Justinian I there were up to 20 active mints.
• After 878, the only active mint was in Constantinople and it was the only Byzantine mint, until the mint at Thessalonica was revived in the 11th century.
• Only certain metals were struck at some mints and some coins were marked with the mint they were created at, usually on the reverse. CONOB or CONOB was for Constantinople, NIKO for Nicomedia, etc. Some mints are only known by distinguishing features such as the shape of flans or the style of die (high borders, etc).
• Usually gold and silver were struck at the outlying mints for payment of taxes from those areas. These coins did not usually see general circulation, but were used within the government and church. Bronze coinage was used for payment of workers and soldiers and was the general currency.
Style of Byzantine Coins
Gold Coins
Solidus
from Justin I, 6th century From www.byzantinecoins.com
• During most of the Byzantine era, the portraiture on coins was stylized and not intended to be an exact likeness like on modern coinage. Some portraiture after the 9th century shows an attempt at a likeness (e.g., coins struck later in an Emperor’s rule may show him with a beard to suggest age), and often desired successors were included.
•On the solidus, semissis, and tremissis, the emperor’s profile in on the obverse. The reverse of the solidus was Victory with a cross. The reverse of the semissis was Victory seated with a numeral to the side (it is not clear what the numeral would specify). The reverse of the tremissis was Victory bearing a wreath and orb topped by a cross.
• Nomismata started including portraits of Christ on the obverse. The reverse would still have the Emperor and sometimes his sucessors.
Silver Coins
Miliresion from Constantine IX, 11th century From www.coins.com
• Silver coins weren’t used much until the 8th century when the miliresion was made. The miliresia drew their inspiration from contemporary Muslim coins called dirham.
• There was rarely portraiture. Usually the artwork had a stylized cross on the obverse and the names of the ruler(s) on the reverse. Eventually portraits of the Virgin Mary and/or Christ were included next to the cross.
Copper/Bronze Coins
Nummus from Thessalonica, 6th century From www.elsen.be
Follis from Justinian I, 6th century From www.coins.com
• Copper coinage had a bust of the Emperor on the obverse and a Greek letter on the reverse to designate the denomination.
• M = 40 = follis, K = 20 = half follis, I = 10 = decanummium, E = 5 = pentanummium See illustrations of solidus, nummus, follis, and miliresion
Bibliography
Grierson, Philip, Byzantine Coinage, Washington, D.C. (Dumbarton Oaks), 1982
Grierson, Philip, Byzantine Coins, London (Methuen), 1982
Whitting, Philip, Byzantine Coins, London (Barrie & Jenkins), 1973
Sear, David, Byzantine Coins and their Values, London (Seaby), 1974
Wroth, Warwick, Catalogue of the Imperial Byzantine Coins in the British Museum, London (British Museum), 1908
Bellinger, Alfred and Philip Grierson, Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Washington, D.C. (Dumbarton Oaks), 1968
Bendall, Simon and Peter Donald, The Later Palaeologan Coinage, London (A.H. Baldwin), 1979
