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Byzantine Anonymous Bronze Follis with Christ Portrait (about 1,050-1,000 years ago)

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This bronze follis belongs to the "anonymous" Byzantine coin series issued by various emperors from 976-1025 CE. Minted in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), these coins broke with the long-standing tradition of depicting the emperor and instead featured religious imagery, reflecting the deeply Christian character of medieval Byzantine culture.

Coin Description:

  • Front side: Features a frontal bust of Jesus Christ with a cross nimbus (halo with a cross), wearing traditional robes, and holding a Gospel book. Unlike Roman-style profile portraits, this distinctive forward-facing style became characteristic of Byzantine religious art.

  • Back side: Contains a Greek inscription reading "ΙΗΣΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕ" (Jesus Christ, King of Kings), arranged in four or five lines. Later issues might show variations of this inscription or different religious messages.

Technical Details:

  • Material: Bronze

  • Denomination: Follis (standard bronze unit in the Byzantine monetary system)

  • Minting date/period: 976-1025 CE (approximately 1,050-1,000 years ago)

  • Condition: Varies by specimen

Historical Significance:

These revolutionary coins represent a dramatic shift in Byzantine numismatic tradition by replacing the emperor's portrait with a religious image. This change, beginning under John I Tzimiskes and continuing until after the First Crusade, reflected the deeply Orthodox Christian character of Byzantine society and possibly intended to invoke divine protection during troubled times. The frontal portrait style of Christ influenced religious iconography throughout the Orthodox Christian world and continues to be recognizable in Eastern Orthodox art today.

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This bronze follis belongs to the "anonymous" Byzantine coin series issued by various emperors from 976-1025 CE. Minted in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), these coins broke with the long-standing tradition of depicting the emperor and instead featured religious imagery, reflecting the deeply Christian character of medieval Byzantine culture.

Coin Description:

  • Front side: Features a frontal bust of Jesus Christ with a cross nimbus (halo with a cross), wearing traditional robes, and holding a Gospel book. Unlike Roman-style profile portraits, this distinctive forward-facing style became characteristic of Byzantine religious art.

  • Back side: Contains a Greek inscription reading "ΙΗΣΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕ" (Jesus Christ, King of Kings), arranged in four or five lines. Later issues might show variations of this inscription or different religious messages.

Technical Details:

  • Material: Bronze

  • Denomination: Follis (standard bronze unit in the Byzantine monetary system)

  • Minting date/period: 976-1025 CE (approximately 1,050-1,000 years ago)

  • Condition: Varies by specimen

Historical Significance:

These revolutionary coins represent a dramatic shift in Byzantine numismatic tradition by replacing the emperor's portrait with a religious image. This change, beginning under John I Tzimiskes and continuing until after the First Crusade, reflected the deeply Orthodox Christian character of Byzantine society and possibly intended to invoke divine protection during troubled times. The frontal portrait style of Christ influenced religious iconography throughout the Orthodox Christian world and continues to be recognizable in Eastern Orthodox art today.

This bronze follis belongs to the "anonymous" Byzantine coin series issued by various emperors from 976-1025 CE. Minted in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), these coins broke with the long-standing tradition of depicting the emperor and instead featured religious imagery, reflecting the deeply Christian character of medieval Byzantine culture.

Coin Description:

  • Front side: Features a frontal bust of Jesus Christ with a cross nimbus (halo with a cross), wearing traditional robes, and holding a Gospel book. Unlike Roman-style profile portraits, this distinctive forward-facing style became characteristic of Byzantine religious art.

  • Back side: Contains a Greek inscription reading "ΙΗΣΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕ" (Jesus Christ, King of Kings), arranged in four or five lines. Later issues might show variations of this inscription or different religious messages.

Technical Details:

  • Material: Bronze

  • Denomination: Follis (standard bronze unit in the Byzantine monetary system)

  • Minting date/period: 976-1025 CE (approximately 1,050-1,000 years ago)

  • Condition: Varies by specimen

Historical Significance:

These revolutionary coins represent a dramatic shift in Byzantine numismatic tradition by replacing the emperor's portrait with a religious image. This change, beginning under John I Tzimiskes and continuing until after the First Crusade, reflected the deeply Orthodox Christian character of Byzantine society and possibly intended to invoke divine protection during troubled times. The frontal portrait style of Christ influenced religious iconography throughout the Orthodox Christian world and continues to be recognizable in Eastern Orthodox art today.

Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: gold solidi and hyperpyra and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins. By the 15th century, the currency was issued only in debased silver stavrata and minor copper coins with no gold issue.[1] The Byzantine Empire established and operated several mints throughout its history. Aside from the main metropolitan mint in the capital, Constantinople, a varying number of provincial mints were also established in other urban centres, especially during the 6th century.

Most provincial mints except for Syracuse were closed or lost to Arab Muslim invasions in the Mediterranean Region by the mid-7th century onwards. After the loss of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople became the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century, when major provincial mints began to re-appear. Many mints, both imperial and, as the Byzantine Empire fragmented, belonging to autonomous local rulers, were operated in the 12th to 14th centuries. Constantinople and Trebizond, capital of the independent Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461), survived until the invasion of Anatolia by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century.

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