Ryan Center for Biblical Studies

• Uselton Catalog #: 34
• Class: Roman Provincial & Byzantine
• Ruling Authority: Anonymous (Ca. 976-1028 A.D.)
• Date Struck: Ca. 976-1028 A.D.
• Type: Anonymous bronze follis
• Size: 25.78 mm.
• Weight: 9.56 g.
• Die Axis: 180°
• Obverse: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, holding book of Gospels.
• Reverse: IHSUS / KRISTUS / BASILEUS / BASILE (Jesus Christ, King of Kings) in four lines; scroll work at bottom and at top.
• Exergue:
• References:
• Original #: 32(1)

This anonymous follis may be a transitional coin between Class A2 or A3. A2 is more common and has scrollwork below and above the reverse legend. But this coin is only 25.8 mm--far short of the 33 mm common among the A2s, and far lighter at 10 g. The style would argue for A2, but size and weight would argue A3. The delineation between A2 and A3 is not always clear one. This may be a transitional coin between the A2 and A3 types, struck sometime during the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII 976-1028 A.D. A similar coin in the Dumbarton Oaks guide is classified as an A2. “The coinage of the Byzantine Empire received a major face-lift early in the reign of the Emperor John I (A.D. 969 to 976): The image of the emperor, which had long appeared on the standard copper coin (the “follis”), was replaced with that of Jesus Christ. More so, even the name of the issuing emperor disappeared, being replaced by inscriptions dedicated to Christ. The fact that the emperor’s image and name were excluded from these coins has given rise to their familiar classification as “anonymous” folles. They were struck for nearly 125 years, until the Emperor Alexius I (1081 to 1118) reformed Byzantine coinage in 1092 … This large and diverse series of anonymous folles consists of 16 distinct issues, the chronology of which has been difficult to establish … The arrangement by Margaret Thompson in the mid-20th century, which assigns a letter to each successive issue, was based upon her work with excavations at the Athenian agora in the 1930s … The obverses of all anonymous folles portray Christ. The issues struck up through about 1050 (categorized as Classes A, B and C in David Sear’s 1987 book Byzantine Coins and Their Values) identify the bust as that of Christ Emmanuel, and those afterward as Jesus Christ. In some cases the images appear to have been inspired by famous icons, and in other cases, perhaps, by the well-known images of Christ Antiphonetes and Christ of Chalke. In every case Christ is shown full-facing with a cross and nimbus clearly visible behind his head, reflecting the standard iconography of the era.” – By David Vagi, Coin World