![]() As for the countermarks used by local Syrian authorities, they display a far greater variety than earlier Byzantine countermarks within the same region, and their precise reading and significance must remain a mystery in many cases. They do not so much celebrate the name of the emperor, but his association with the saving power of the cross, if they refer to the emperor at all. As far as the Byzantine countermarks are concerned, there is a strong – and quite unsurprising – emphasis on the power of the cross. Furthermore, they have tended to focus on the potential occurrence of personal names or titles to the exclusion of other possibilities, not least the occurrence of pious slogans or prayers. Modern commentators have consistently neglected the potential religious significance of many of the monograms used in these countermarks. Thereafter, the term nummus remained in use as a notional unit for 1⁄ 6,000 of the solidus, and in colloquial usage for "small change".The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the Greek countermarks stamped upon Byzantine and Arab-Byzantine copper coins circulating in the greater Syrian region during the period c.635-80. Consequently, the denominations lower than the semifollis were practically unmintable and abandoned. During the 7th century, the successive military and financial crises led to further reduction in the weight and a marked deterioration of the quality of bronze coinage by the time of Emperor Constans II (r. It survived in the Exarchate of Carthage well into the 7th century however. At this time, a new 30- nummi coin (marked with " Λ" or "XXX") was introduced, but the single follis had ceased to be struck at Constantinople. It was reduced again to 22.5 grams in 541/542, and further reductions followed until the century's end. In 538–539, Emperor Justinian I introduced further changes to the 40- nummi follis, raising its weight to 25 grams. In 513, the weights of these coins were doubled, the pentanummium (Greek: πεντανούμμιον, 5- nummi coin marked with "E") introduced, and the minting of single nummi resumed. On the other hand, it appears that issue of the simple nummus was discontinued. These were also marked with Greek numerals representing their value: "M" for the follis, "K" for the semifollis and "I" for the decanummium. 491–518) reformed the coinage (carried out by the comes sacrarum largitionum John the Paphlagonian ) by introducing multiples of the nummus, with denominations of 40 nummi, also known as a follis, 20 nummi ( semifollis), 10 nummi (Greek: δεκανούμμιον, decanummium). 527–565) display its numerical value by the Greek numeral "A" instead. The nummus usually featured the profile of the reigning Byzantine emperor on the obverse and the Byzantine imperial monogram on the reverse, although some coins of Emperor Justinian I (r. They were valued officially at 1⁄ 7,200 of the gold solidus but more usually rated to 1⁄ 6,000 or 1⁄ 12,000. These were small, badly struck coins, weighing less than 1 gram, forming the lowest denomination of Byzantine coinage. The term nummus is now usually applied solely to the 5th–7th century Byzantine issues. ![]() Its official name was apparently nummus, although it has until recently been known among numismatists as the follis. In circa 294 AD, during the Tetrarchy, a new large bronze coin of circa 10 grams weight and 30 mm diameter appeared. History Nummus of AD 307–8 Nummus of AD 317–330 The word was also used during the later years of the Roman Republic and the early Empire, either as a general word for a coin, or to describe the sestertius, which was the standard unit for keeping accounts. It comes from the Greek nomos via its Western Doric form noummos, which was used to describe a coin in some parts of southern Italy. Nummus ( Greek: νοῦμμος, noummos), plural nummi ( νοῦμμοι) is a Latin term meaning ' coin', but used technically by modern writers for a range of low-value copper coins issued by the Roman and Byzantine empires during Late Antiquity. Ancient Roman coin Nummi coins of the late reign of Anastasius I: on the left a 40- nummi coin ( follis) and on the right a 5- nummi coin ( pentanummium).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |