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Gallery of Holed Coins - Byzantine or Romaion

My holed ancient coins page gives an overview of different types of holed coins. These are my holed coin galleries:

Hellenic Coins — Roman Republican and Augustan Coins — First Century Roman Coins — Second Century Roman Coins — Third Century Roman Coins — Fourth Century Roman Coins — Fifth Century Roman Coins — Byzantine or Romaion Coins of Later Centuries (this page) — Other Holed Coins of Varying Origins and Times

Bronze follis of Anastasius Bronze follis of Anastasius,
491-518 CE.
24mm,
15.8 grammes.		 This big, chunky Romaion coin was among a batch of uncleaned coins. It's not in very high relief, but it looks better in real life than the photograph suggests. The cross on the reverse shows the Christian orientation of the eastern empire, and the M indicates its value as 40 nummi. The other markings show that it was made in workshop 5 in the Constantinople mint.
It has been pierced from the reverse side, and clearly that is the side that was displayed. The hole is slightly off-centre so as not to damage the cross. Whoever pierced this coin was a Christian.
Bronze pentanummium of Justin II Bronze pentanummium of Justin II,
565-578 CE.
14mm,
1.1 grammes.		 This little coin is just the opposite of the unwieldy Anastasius follis. It looks smoother and darker in the hand – the photo brings out every irregularity, which is useful if you want a true record of the coin but reduces its prettiness.
The presence of a complicated monogram on the obverse instead of a portrait is an interesting feature.
Bronze follis of Heraclius II Bronze follis of Heraclius II,
610-641 CE.
30 x 32mm,
10.7 grammes.		 This follis, which shows Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine, was stuck in Constantinople using as a flan a follis of Maurice Tiberius struck in Antioch. Such overstrikes were common at this time – many bronze coins were being struck, and there was a shortage of metal. The anonymous follis a few coins further on is also an overstrike.
Holed gold tremissis of the emperor Constans II Gold tremissis of Constans II,
641-668 CE.
14.6mm,
1.4 grammes.		 In my collection I have only 2½ gold coins (the half is a rather worn fourrée tremissis of Honorius, with a thin layer of gold over base metal). This is one of them. It's a small but well made coin of the Romaion emperor Constans the second. Being holed made a big difference to the price of this one – which is why it's on this page!
Holed bronze follis of Leo VI Bronze follis of Leo VI,
886-912 CE.
26X27mm,
6.39 grammes.		 This is an unusual type of coin in that there is no image on the reverse, only text. The lettering is in a rather odd (to us) style which combines upper and lower case, Greek and Roman letter forms. The legend on both sides names Leo as king of the Romans, which shows how the eastern Byzantines regarded theselves.
Holed cast bronze follis of Constantius VII and Romanus I Cast bronze follis of Constantius VII and Romanus I,
920-944 CE.
25mm,
6.93 grammes.		 This unusual coin is a cast issue, and the poor rendition of the reverse is common. Actually, you can see a surprising amount of detail by tilting the coin to the light. The result is very minimalist, and I find its dark green and reddish patination very attractive.
Bronze anonymous follis attributed to Nicephorus III Bronze anonymous follis,
1078-1081 CE.
25mm,
4.9 grammes.		 This bronze follis, overstruck on a follis of Michael VII, is usually attributed to Nicephorus III. Most examples are rather crude. This one is rather pleasant, even though it is worn. In fact, by now you will know that some wear on holed coins increases their interest for me, giving them a more personal ancient history.
This one is pierced a little off centre, so as not to affect the cross, like the coin of Anastasius above.
Billon aspron trachy of John II Comnenus Billon aspron trachy of
John II Comnenus,
1118-1143 CE.
27 x 30mm,
2.8 grammes.		 Even these cup-shaped coins were pierced and used as jewellery. Like many earlier coins, these were made of an alloy containing only a small proportion of silver, and were given a thin coating or wash of a purer metal for the sake of appearances. This coin must have shone brightly at first, but now there are merely some traces of silver on the inside of this coin, where it hasn't rubbed against clothing.
Silver asper of Manuel I showing Saint Eugenius on the reverse. Silver asper of
Manuel I Megas Comnenus,
1238-1263 CE.
20mm x 23mm,
2.9 grammes.		 This interesting silver coin comes from Trebizond, a small kingdom (or empire) that was formed on the south shore of the Black Sea in 1204 after the fourth Crusade occupied Constantinople. This Manuel should not be confused with the earler Romaion emperor Manuel I Comnenus, 1118-1180. Trebizond was in effect the last remnant of the great Roman Empire, and finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1461.

Hellenic Coins — Roman Republican and Augustan Coins — First Century Roman Coins — Second Century Roman Coins — Third Century Roman Coins — Fourth Century Roman Coins — Fifth Century Roman Coins — Byzantine or Romaion Coins of Later Centuries (this page) — Other Holed Coins of Varying Origins and Times

The content of this page was last updated on 13 August 2008.
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