Leo I

Augustus 457-474

Leo was a Thracian soldier who gained enough clout fighting for the armies of Marcian that upon his death he was able to secure the throne. Leo mounted only one major military campaign and it was against the Vandals in Northern Africa. The naval invasion fleet was decimated by the forces of Gaiseric and the unfavorable conclusion of this battle marks the final Roman attempt to recover this key region. The rest of Leo 's career was taken up handling the blessing and vetoing of the many puppet emperors during the last years of the West as well as handling various other foreign and domestic matters. Much of Leo 's reign was weakened if not outright dominated by several military leaders. He died in 474 of advanced age and was succeeded by his grandson Leo II.

With the exception of some pretty rare coins that fall into the AE3 and AE2 class of bronzes, Leo sees nothing wrong with continuing half a century of numismatic ennui and recycles the same portraits and the same old reverses of his political ancestors that would go on for another half century or more before finally running their courses.
 
The system is pretty straightforward. On the Solidus the portrait will be the emperor‟s facing bust dressed in the combat gear of the day along with his trusty diadem on the helmet. The smaller gold denominations along with the silver and bronzes will feature the more traditional profile bust.
 
Silver has by now long disappeared except on rare occasions. These will be invariably more expensive than the fairly common Solidi which usually go for around $500 a piece. A high-grade bronze will also fetch top dollar, especially if it‟s one of those rare AE3‟s or AE2‟s mentioned above. And the cheapest coins will be the low-grade but fairly common AE4‟s featuring one of the several different monograms designed for him. These can sometimes be found among uncleaned coins or by sale at around $20-$40 each.
 
Speaking of the monogram, these interesting designs are born from the need to identify the ruler at a glance since the small size of the coins they are struck on prevent easy identification. Their aim is to compress the ruler‟s name into a single symbol which includes all the letters in his name. Or at least try to. For Leo the celator obviously had a much less challenging task than, say, Basiliscus!

Busts:

 
1) Diademed (pearls), draped and cuirassed bust left
2) Diademed (pearls), draped and cuirassed bust right
3) Diademed (rosettes), draped and cuirassed bust right
4) Diademed, bust left, wearing consular robes, holding mappa and cross
5) Helmeted, diademed, cuirassed bust facing, holding spear over shoulder and shield

 

Obverses:

 
1) DN LEO
2) DN LEO PE AVG
3) DN LEO PER AVG
4) DN LEO PERPET
5) DN LEO PERPET AG
6) DN LEO PERPET AV
7) DN LEO PERPET AVG
8) DN LEO PERPETV AVG
9) DN LEO PERPETVVS AVG
10) DN LEO PF AVG
11) DN LEO PF AVGO
12) DN LEO PRPET AG
13) DN LEO PRTE AVG
14) DN LEON PERP AVG
15) DN LEON VG
16) DN LEONIS PF R AVG
17) DN LEONIS PP A AVG
18) DN LEONIS PP AVG
19) DN LEONS PF AVG
20) DN LEOS PF AVG
21) DN ΛEONS PF AVG

 

Reverses:

 
1) GLORIA ROMANORVM
2) GLORORVS TERRRAL
3) SALVS REIPVBLICAE
4) SALVS REIRVBLICAE C
5) SALVS RPVBLICA
6) SALVS RPVRLCA
7) VICTORIA AVGG
8) VICTORIA AVGGG
9) VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM
10) VICTORIA ROMANORVM
11) VIRTVS AVGVSTI
12) VIRTVS EXERCITI
13) VOT XXX MVLT XXXX
14) No legend

 

Types:

 
1) Leo I and Leo II seated, facing, with cross in between; star above each of them.
2) Leo I seated, facing, holding mappa and cross
3) Leo I standing right, stepping on captive, holding labarum and globe
4) Leo I standing, facing, holding cross and resting hand on kneeling captive.
5) Leo I standing, facing, holding cross on globe and labarum
6) Leo I standing, facing, holding spear and resting hand on shield.
7) Leo I standing, facing, raising hand and holding globe.
8) Leo I standing, facing, stepping on snake, holding cross and Victory on globe
9) Monogram I
10) Monogram II
11) Roma and Constantinopolis seated, facing, each holding Victory on globe and scepter; cross between them.
12) Verina standing, facing, holding cross on globe and scepter; b E across fields
13) Victory advancing forward, holding wreath and cross on globe
14) Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm.
15) Victory seated right, holding shield reading XVXXX
16) Victory seated right, holding shield reading XXV
17) Victory seated right, holding shield reading XXXX
18) Victory standing left, holding cross
19) Wreath, Chi-Rho within
20) Wreath, cross within
21) Wreath, lion seated left within.
22) Wreath, lion seated left within; cross atop.
23) Wreath, lion standing left within; star above.
24) Wreath, lion standing right within; star above.
25) Wreath, SAL / REI / PVI within (letters usually very garbled)
26) Wreath, VOT / XXXV / MVLT / XXXX within

 

Mints:

 
1) Alexandria
2) Antioch
3) Constantinopolis
4) Cyzicus
5) Heraclea
6) Mediolanum
7) Nicomedia
8) Ravenna
9) Roma
10) Thessalonica

 
 
AU Solidus Reference(s)
 
1) B4, O07, R08, T02, M10 Exe: */THSOB RIC X 620
2) B5, O07, R04, T01, M03 Exe: CONOB RIC X 638
3) B5, O07, R08, T18, M03 Exe: */CONOB   Officina at end of reverse legend RIC X 605
4) B5, O07, R08, T18, M10 Exe: */*/TESOB RIC X 618

 
AU Tremissis
 
5) B2, O07, R09, T13, M03 Exe: */CONOB RIC X 611

 
AR Miliarense
 
6) B1, O07, R01, T07, M03 Exe: */CON RIC X 644
7) B2, O07, R01, T07, M03 Exe: */CON RIC X 641

 
AR Siliqua
 
8) B2, O07, R14, T25, M03 Exe: CONS* RIC X 648

 
AR ½ Siliqua
 
9) B2, O06, R14, T25, M03 Exe: CONS* RIC X 650

 
AE3
 
10) B2, O07, R05, T03, M03 Exe: CON RIC X 660
11) B2, O07, R06, T03, M03 Exe: CON RIC X 657

 
AE4
 
12) B2, O01, R14, T04, M03 Exe: */CN RIC X 703, L 2268
13) B2, O01, R14, T04, M03  RIC X 704, L 2269
14) B2, O01, R14, T10, M03 Exe: KOC RIC X 720, L 2270 
15) B2, O01, R14, T12, M03  RIC X 715, L 2272
16) B2, O01, R14, T21, M03 Exe: CON RIC X 676
17) B2, O04, R14, T09, M03  RIC X 680
18) B2, O04, R14, T12, M03  RIC X 718, L 2274
19) B2, O10, R14, T09, M03  RIC X 684
20) B2, O10, R14, T21, M03 Exe: CON RIC X 674, L 2260
21) B2, O21, R14, T09, M03  RIC X 686, L 2263

 
 

Leo I Busts

Leo I Types