Justin II & Sophia Ancient Byzantine Bronze Follis — Constantinople Mint (AD 565–578)

Name: Justin II & Sophia Ancient Byzantine Bronze Follis — Constantinople Mint (AD 565–578)
Brand: Kinzer Coins
Price: 90.0 USD
Availability: InStock

$90.00 USD

Sale Sold out

Shipping calculated at checkout.

Justin II & Sophia Bronze Follis from Constantinople — Imperial Couple Portrait

Own One of Byzantine Bronze Coinage’s Most Recognizable Paired Portraits

The exact Byzantine bronze follis of Justin II and Empress Sophia shown, struck at Constantinople in regnal year 5, AD 569/570.

✓ Guaranteed Authentic
✓ Exact Coin Shown
✓ 30-Day Returns

👑 Depicts Justin II and Sophia seated together on a double throne
🏛 Struck at Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire
🤲 The exact historic coin pictured is the one you'll receive

Own This Piece of History

Why This Coin Matters

Justin II, nephew and successor of Justinian I, ruled from AD 565 to 578. His wife Sophia became Augusta and held an unusually visible position within the imperial court.

The obverse of this follis depicts Justin II and Sophia seated together. The composition gives the empress remarkable prominence on an everyday bronze denomination and makes the type one of the most recognizable paired imperial images of sixth-century Byzantine coinage.

The image should not, however, be treated as proof that Justin and Sophia possessed equal constitutional authority as co-emperors. Justin II remained the reigning emperor. The paired portrait is better understood as an official dynastic and imperial image, while Sophia’s political importance is independently demonstrated by her prominent role later in Justin’s reign.

Ancient sources describe Justin as suffering serious mental illness during his later years. As his ability to govern deteriorated, Sophia became increasingly influential, and in AD 574 the general Tiberius was elevated to Caesar and assumed major governmental responsibilities.

This particular coin was struck in regnal year 5 (AD 569/570) at Constantinople. Its reverse bears the large M denoting a follis of forty nummi, along with the dating and mint marks characteristic of the sixth-century bronze system.

The coin’s historical appeal lies in the unusually prominent official representation of an emperor and empress together—not in a claim of legally equal sovereignty that the image itself does not establish.