AT a meeting of the Gold Coast CoinClub one of the members gener-

ously gave me a Byzantine coin as a gift.He was not interested in Byzantinecoins but he knew that I was. I was de-lighted with the gift because in mymind it transported me to a fascinatingperiod in Byzantine history. I now havea tangible connection with people wholived at that time and handled thiscoin.The coin is mostly copper, 26 mms in

diameter and common. (Figure 1) It islisted in Sear’s Byzantine Coins andtheir Values as number 1825. On theobverse there is a three-quarterlength figure of Christ standing andfacing the viewer. He has a halo and

blesses with his right hand. With hisleft hand he holds a book, which pre-sumably contains the Gospels. The dotson the book are the jewels that deco-rated its cover. Before the invention ofprinting in the 15th century Bibles werevery valuable and their covers wereoften richly decorated.The legend surrounding Christ is not

obvious, but with a little effort it canbe discerned. Some of the letters areclearer on another specimen. (Figure 2)The legend is + EMMA NOVHΛ, whichis Greek for ‘Emmanuel’. This wordoccurs once in the New Testament(Matthew 1:13) and twice in the OldTestament (Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8). Itmeans “God with us”, and in Matthew’s

Gospel it refers to Jesus as the fulfil-ment of a prophecy by Isaiah. Matthew’sGospel was originally written inGreek, and there the word begins with‘E’. In the book of Isaiah, which waswritten in Hebrew, the word beginswith ‘I’. So ‘Emmanuel’ on the coin isderived from Matthew’s Gospel.

Figure 1 – A copper coin with a three-quarter length figure of Christ on the obverse and alegend meaning “Emmanuel”. On the reverse there is a jewelled cross with IC XC NI KA inthe angles of the cross. Sear 1825.

Figure 2 – Another example of the coin inFigure 1. (Forvm Ancient Coins, Web Shop)

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Osvaldo Gago)

Also on the obverse, in the left field,are the letters IC with a bar above, andin the right field are the letters XC witha bar above. In ancient Greek manu-scripts a bar above letters indicates

that there is an abbreviation. Thereforethe complete Greek words are IHSOYC

XPISTOC, meaning ‘Jesus Christ’. Theseabbreviated words usually appear withthe figure of Christ on Byzantine coins

to distinguish him from the many saintswho were venerated by the people. On the coin there is no emperor’s

name and no indication of when andwhere it was minted. Such Byzantinecoins are called ‘anonymous folles’. Theword ‘anonymous’ means ‘no name’; and‘follis’, which was originally the Latinword for a leather bag, was the namegiven to the large (usually silver-washed)bronze coin that was introduced by theRoman emperor, Diocletian, in 295 AD.In about 500 AD the Roman Empire wassucceeded by the Byzantine Empire withConstantinople (modern Istanbul) asits capital, but the follis denominationwas retained. Up to and including the reign of

Nicephorus II (963-69) folles usually hadan image of the emperor on the obverseand an inscription referring to him onthe reverse. (Figure 3) But this type offollis was not issued by his successor,John I, who became emperor on 11th

December 969. In fact, there are no follesbearing John’s image or name, andtherefore the production of anonymousfolles must be dated from 970. Theycontinued to be produced until AlexiusI reformed the coinage in 1092. Johnmight have put Christ’s image and titleon the follis instead of his own becauseof remorse for the brutal assassinationof Nicephorus, for which he was re-sponsible. More likely it was part of thepenance that Polyeuctes, the patriarchof Constantinople, demanded before heallowed John to enter a church andproceed to his coronation. Because many of the anonymous folles

show evidence of having been struck

Figure 3 – Follis of Nicephorus II (963-9). 26 mms diameter. Obverse: bust of Nicephorus. Greeklegend: nICIFR bASILEV RW (Nicephorus King of the Romans). Reverse: inscription in four lines mean-ing, “Nicephorus, in God, King of the Romans.” Sear 1782. (Gitbud & Naumann, Auction 19, Lot 767)

Figure 4 – Gold histamenon nomisma of Michael IV (1034-41). 26 mms diameter. Obverse:bust of Christ. Latin legend: + IhS XIS REX REGNANTInM (Jesus Christ, King of those ruling). Re-verse: bust of Michael IV. The Greek legend means, “Michael, King of the Romans.” The Handof God is above the crown. Sear 1824. (Heritage Auctions, Auction 3035, Lot 29644)

Figure 5 – Map of the Byzantine Empire in 1025 AD. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

on other anonymous folles, it has beenpossible to outline a chronology for theseries. Margaret Thompson, who wasthe Curator of Greek Coins for theAmerican Numismatic Society, distin-guished 14 classes, from A to N, andput them in order from the earliest tothe latest. Her chronology was basedon the coins excavated from the agora

(market place) at Athens, the cata-logue of which was published in 1954.Anonymous folles with the three-quar-ter length standing figure of Christ wereput in Class C, which she attributed toMichael IV (1034-41). A gold coin ofMichael IV is shown in Figure 4. Atthis time the Byzantine Empire was stillquite extensive (Figure 5 – map), but

the only mint was at Constantinople. The three-quarter length standing

figure of Christ on anonymous folles ofClass C was an image that was wellknown to the people of Constantinoplebecause it was copied from a popularicon called ‘Christ Antiphonetes’. Weknow that the Christ on the coin is‘Christ Antiphonetes’ because there is apattern coin (Figure 6) of the EmpressZoe that has the three-quarter lengthfigure of Christ with the inscription‘Antiphonet’ in Greek letters. The wordmeans ‘guarantee’ and it refers to alegend about the use of the icon assurety for a loan by a merchant duringthe reign of Heraclius (610-641). Theicon was famous for the miracles assoc-iated with it and it was on display in thechurch of St Mary in the Chalcoprateia(copper market). The remains of thechurch are near Hagia Sophia (HolyWisdom), which was originally built asa cathedral in Constantinople by Justin-ian I (527-565) but is now a museum.According to Michael Psellus, a statesecretary when Zoe was empress, shewas particularly devoted to this icon.She had a copy made and used it for

Figure 6 – Copper pattern of Zoe (1041). A pattern was a design to be considered for a coinintended for general circulation. 26 mms diameter. Obverse: three-quarter length figure ofChrist. Letters in left field: IC (with bar above)/O/AN/T/I. Letters in right field: XC (with barabove)/Φ/W/NH/T. The letters mean, “Jesus Christ, Antiphonetes.” Reverse: bust of Zoewith legend meaning, “Zoe Augusta.” Sear 1825A (extremely rare). (Photocopy of coin 910in ‘Byzantine Coins’ by Philip Grierson)

Figure 7 – Mosaic of Christ, Constantine IX and Zoe, on the east wall of the south gallery of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The Greek words above Zoe mean, “Zoe, Blessed Augusta (Empress).” (Wikimedia Commons)

divination, i.e. to predict the future. Somy coin is a link between me and Zoe,who was an important figure in Byzan-tine history. Anyone who visits HagiaSophia today can see a wonderfulmosaic image of Zoe and her third hus-band, Constantine IX, on either side ofChrist enthroned. (Figure 7)Zoe was the daughter of Constantine

VIII (1025-8) who was an old man whenhe became emperor. (Figure 8) He hadthree daughters but no son. His eldestdaughter had become a nun because her

face was disfigured by smallpox, and thenext in line was Zoe, who was fifty whenhe died. Just before he died he arrangedfor Zoe to marry a city official, RomanusIII (1028-34). (Figure 9) Romanus soonneglected his new wife and a rift devel-oped between them. Zoe then fell in lovewith a young man called Michael, andonly a few hours after the suspiciousdeath of Romanus she married him.He ruled as Michael IV. According toGeorge Ostrogorsky, the author of His-tory of the Byzantine State, “Michael also

lost interest in her as soon as he hadsecured the throne. Even her freedomof movement was limited.” Therefore itis unlikely that he would have issueda follis with Zoe’s favourite icon on it. Tosecure the succession Michael adoptedhis nephew, also called Michael. When Michael IV died in 1041 Zoe

ruled alone for a few days until hernephew-in-law was crowned as MichaelV (1041-2). It might have been duringthis brief period, or soon after, that Zoe’spattern coin (Figure 6) was struck. Zoe

Figure 8 – Gold histamenon nomisma of Constantine VIII (1025-8). 26 mms diameter. Obverse:bust of Christ with legend meaning, “Jesus Christ, King of those ruling.” Reverse: bust ofConstantine VIII. Sear 1815. (Numismatic Lanz München, Auction 149, Lot 575)

Figure 9 – Silver miliaresion of Romanus III (1028-34). 26 mms diameter. Obverse: Mary standsholding the infant Jesus. This image is known as the Virgin Hodegetria (She who points theway). The legend extends over both sides and means, “He who places his hope on thee, OVirgin all glorious, will prosper in all he does.” Reverse: Romanus standing. Sear 1822. (Stacks,the Golden Horn Collection, Lot 3251)

Figure 10 – Gold histamenon nomisma of Zoe and Theodora (1042). 27 mms diameter.Obverse: Mary orans (praying with uplifted arms). Christ is in a medallion on her chest.This image is known as the Virgin Episkepsis. The legend means, “Theotokos (God bearer),help the Queens.” Reverse: busts of Zoe (left) and Theodora (right). Sear 1827. (HeritageAuctions, Auction 3035, Lot 29646)

Figure 12 – Gold histamenon nomisma ofConstantine IX (1042-55). 27 mms diameter.Obverse: bust of Christ with legend meaning,“Jesus Christ, King of those ruling.” Reverse:bust of Constantine IX between stars thatrefer to a supernova that appeared in thesky in 1054 and was recorded by Chineseastrologers. Sear 1831. (Roma NumismaticsLtd, Auction 7, Lot 1387)

Figure 11 – The icon known as the VirginEpiskepsis (on the chest). Russian, 19th cen-tury. It is also known as the Virgin of the Sign.On coins it appears on the gold histamenonnomisma of Zoe and Theodora. (Collection ofSt John’s Cathedral, Brisbane)

probably expected to be co-ruler withMichael V, but after his coronation hebanished her to a nunnery, and herAntiphonetes coin remained a pattern,never to be made into the large gold coin(a histamenon nomisma) that she imag-ined. However, after only four monthsthe people of Constantinople rejectedMichael V as emperor and he was de-posed and blinded. Zoe and her sister,Theodora, now ruled jointly, and theyissued a beautiful histamenon nomismawith the image of the Virgin Episkepsis

on the reverse. (Figures 10 and 11) Theproblem was that these elderly sistershated each other. They quarrelled fre-quently and their joint rule becameimpracticable. As Theodora had previ-ously become a nun, the only solutionwas for Zoe, now 64, to find yet anotherhusband. She chose an eminent senatorto become Constantine IX (1042-55).(Figure 12) In 1050 Zoe died, aged 72.When Constantine IX died, Theodora(Figure 13) ruled in her own right untilshe died in 1056.

As my anonymous follis bears theimage of Christ that was so dear to Zoe,it was probably minted at some timeduring the period when she was anempress, i.e. from 1028 to 1050. How-ever, since Class C folles are oftenoverstruck on Class B folles, it might bepossible to narrow the period further.In 1973 Philip Grierson, who wrote theDumbarton Oaks catalogue of Byzan-tine coins for this period, attributedClass B folles to Michael IV (1034-41).If he is correct (and Michael IV did nothonour his wife by putting her favour-ite icon on the follis) the period forminting Class C folles can be reducedeven further to 1042-50, i.e. during thereign of Constantine IX. On my cointhere is evidence that it was struck onanother coin, e.g. the line that extendsfrom Christ’s right side might be oneof the lines in Christ’s halo on a ClassB follis. (Figure 14). In any case, it ismost likely that my coin was strucksometime during those eight years, from1042 to 1050. On the reverse of my coin there is a

jewelled cross with the letters IC XC NI

KA in the angles of the cross. The lettersmean “Jesus Christ conquers” (or “MayJesus Christ conquer”). This sentencefirst appears on the silver coin, calleda miliaresion, which was introduced byLeo III (717-41). (Figure 15) Thereafterit appears frequently on coins until the11th century. It appears on Class C follesbut not on the other classes where thereverse inscription is “Jesus Christ, Kingof kings.” The name, “King of kings”, isgiven to Christ in the New Testamentin The Revelation to John (Rev. 19:16).The idea of Christ conquering alsocomes from the same source but there“his name is called The Word of God.And the armies of heaven, wearing finelinen, white and pure, were followinghim on white horses.” (Rev. 19:14, NRSV)A lot more could be said about my

coin, but I hope enough has been saidto whet the appetite of coin collectorsfor the fascinating subject of Byzantinecoins. To appreciate them one needs toknow something about Byzantine his-tory, but there are several good bookson the subject, e.g. the three paperbackvolumes by John Julius Norwich. Theyare easy to read and very entertaining.Hopefully you will not disregard Byz-antine coins or just give them away.

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Figure 13 – Gold tetarteron nomisma of Theodora (1055-6). 20 mms diameter. Obverse: bustof Christ. Reverse: bust of Theodora with legend meaning, “Theodora Augusta (Empress).”The post-smallpox scarring of her face is, of course, not shown. Sear 1838. (Jean Elsen & sesfils S.A., Auction 116, Lot 726)

Figure 14 – Copper follis of Class B. 29 mms diameter. Obverse: bust of Christ. Reverse: crosson three steps with Greek words meaning, “Jesus Christ, King of kings.” Most anonymousfolles are crudely struck and worn. (Forvm Ancient Coins, Web Shop)

Figure 15 – Silver miliaresion of Leo III (717-41). 22 mms diameter. Obverse: cross with legend,IhSUS XRIS TUS nICA (Jesus Christ conquers). Reverse: inscription in five lines meaning “Leoand Constantine, Kings in God.” Leo’s son, Constantine V, was co-emperor. Sear 1512. (Gorny& Mosch, Auction 220, Lot 1858)

REMEMBER:THERE IS NO SEPARATE JANUARY ISSUE OF CAB. This Year Book issue covers

December 2018 and January 2019