Metals. Metals for coins were mainly the three standard ones used in the ancient world - gold, silver and copper - but the proportion and form of coins in each metal has varied greatly over the centuries. Heavy copper coins were not struck in the fifth century, their place being taken by tiny nummi, nor were they struck after the late eleventh century. A coinage in silver barely existed in the fifth through sixth centuries, and between the late eleventh and the late thirteenth centuries the traditional silver miliaresia were replaced by trikephala of electrum for higher values and trachea of billon (that is, a silver-copper alloy containing less than fifty percent silver) for lower ones. The trachea also substituted for the heavy golles of cooper no longer minted. The gold remained of high quality until the 1030s, when a half century of progressive debasement began. Nomismata of good quality were revived by Alexios I in 1092 as part of a general coinage reform which reestablished a currency on whose quality users could rely, but these hyperpyra were only 20.5 carats fine (85.4 percent) instead of 24 carats previously.
Thematic Content. The thematic content of Byzantine coins differ markedly from that of Roman ones, as did the way the emperor was represented. Beginning with the reign of Constantine I all coin types of a positively pagan character disappeared, although for the next two-and-a-half centuries representations of Victory and of Roma and Constantinopolis continued to be tolerated because it was possible to regard them as symbolic and not as objects of worship. The cross began to be used as a main type in the mid-fifth century, though only on a few denominations; only under Tiberios I did it become the main reverse type of the gold coins. A bust of Christ, first shown on coins of Justinian II, became a regular feature of the coinage only after the restoration of images under Michael III (843), but from then on representations of Christ, of the Virgin (first under Leo VI), and of the saints (first under Michael IV) are normal. A bust or standing figure of the emperor was almost always present, except on the so0called Anonymous Folles (970-1092), which have religious types and incriptions only. The personality of the emperor was eclipsed by the greatness of his office. Characterized portraits in high relief, a distinctive feature of Roman coinage during the Principate, were replaced by formalized frontal effigies in low relief, usually with no attempt at reproducing an individual likeness. Instead the status of the emperor was shown by his costume (chlamys, fibula, crown) and insignia (scepter, globus cruciger, akakia).
Language. The language of the coin inscriptions were initially Latin, as were the elements of the emperor's style (DN for dominus noster, PE or PF for perpetuus or pius felix, AVG for augustus), but Greek legends began to be used in the seventh century (EN TOVTO NIKA on folles of Constans II) and Greek titles such as basileus, despotes and so forth in the eighth. After a long period in which Greek and Latin characters were used indiscriminately and might even appear together in the same word, the use of letters in a specifically Latin sense disappeared in the eleventh century.
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Last modified: Thurs Dec 10, 1998