The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Coinage of the Roman Empire


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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC XF* Strike: 5/5 Surface: 5/5
Owner: RAM-VT
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Slot Name: Coinage of the Roman Empire
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

Byzantine Empire Justinian I, AD 527-565 AE 37mm Follis. Cyzicus. (At 37mm I assume this qualifies as a "Large" follis.) Grade XF*; Strike 5/5; Surface 5/5 - SB 207 Obv.: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, helmeted, cuirassed bust facing, holding cross on globe and shield with horseman motif, cross to right Rev.: Large M, ANNO to left, cross above, regnal year to right, officina letter below, mintmark KYZ. Justinian I commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire. One of the most important figures of Late Antiquity and the last Roman Emperor to speak Latin as a first language, Justinian's rule constitutes a distinct epoch in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. The impact of his administration extended far beyond the boundaries of his time and domain. Justinian's reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii, or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Roman Empire. His general Belisarius swiftly conquered the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, extending Roman control to the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently Belisarius, Narses, and other generals conquered the Ostrogothic Kingdom, restoring Dalmatia, Sicily, Italy, and Rome to the Empire after more than half a century of barbarian control. The prefect Liberius reclaimed most of southern Iberia, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a million solidi. During his reign Justinian also subdued the Tzani, a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. A still more resonant aspect of his legacy was the uniform rewriting of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis, which is still the basis of civil law in many modern states. His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded such masterpieces as the church of Hagia Sophia, which was to be the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for many centuries. A devastating outbreak of bubonic plague in the early 540s marked the end of an age of splendor. The Empire entered a period of territorial decline not to be reversed until the ninth century Justinian is considered a saint amongst Orthodox Christians, and is also commemorated by some Lutheran Churches. I must say that I am pleased to have both this AE Follis (40 Nummi) and the AE 20 Nummi which follows in that they make almost a perfectly matched set of these two coins. This was not by intent in that I purchased these two coins at different times on eBay. My cost was $140

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