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


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC Ch VF Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5
Grade Comment: sand patina
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 Romanus IV AD 1068-1071. AE Follis Grade: Ch VF Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5 Census - NGC does not provide census info on ancient coins :>( Obv. Nimbate bust of Christ facing, holding book of gospels with both hands, NI-KA either side below, IC-XC either side above Rev. Large decorative cross with X at centre, globule and 2 pellets at each extremity; C/R/P/D in each quarter. Romanos (or Romanus) IV Diogenes was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery where he died of his wounds. NGC shows this coin as being an anonomus issue while my copy of Imperial Byzantine Coins in the British Museum by Warwick Wroth (1966) clearly states that this coin is of Romanus IV also the photo in Wikipedia of an AE follis of Romanus IV is very similar to the photo shown above. My cost for this coin was $43.

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