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A visit to where my Constantinople Byzantine coin was made

I have several Byzantine bronze coins and became curious as to the location of the
Constantinople mint that made them, especially this one of Justinian (AD 527-565)

image

Justinian AE Follis
Obverse: Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
D N IVSTINI-ANVS PP AVG
Reverse: Large letter 'M', star left, cross top, cross right, G under large 'M'
CON in exergue (Constantinople mint)
Struck: AD 527-538
Size: 30mm
Weight: 17.98gm
Catalog: Sear 158

Philip Grierson's book Catalogue of late Roman coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection
(Dumbarton Oaks, 1992) places the Constantinople mint for bronze coins near the "Golden Gate".

In April 2012, I finally able to make a visit to Istanbul, Turkey.

After a busy day wandering around Justinian's Hagia Sophia church and the Sultan Ahmed Blue Mosque,
I was back at my hotel whose lobby had some books about Turkey and Istanbul.

I happened to look at Richard Stoneman's book
Across the Hellespont: A Literary Guide to Turkey (Hutchinson, 1987)
which had a map of Constantinople showing the "Golden Gate" to be in a place
called the "Castle of the Seven Towers", part of the 4th century walls around the city.
The walls were constructed during the reign of Theodosius I or II.
The "Golden Gate" was a location for ceremonial entrances into the city and for holding imperial Triumphs.

The castle is now a Turkish museum named Yedikule (Turkish for "Seven Towers") Museum.

On Tuesday, April 24, 2012, I took the light rail to the Yedikule station,
and walked out Yedikule street to the Yedikule Castle museum.

The street to the museum:

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I had the castle to myself for an hour, probably because it is not mentioned in many guide books.
Later a tour bus with some teenagers showed up and they began climbing around on the walls.

A sign describing the castle complex:

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The Golden Gate:

image

The museum entrance and the tour bus group:

image

Three of the towers, named the Treasure, Dungeon, and Cannon towers:

image

The trip sure made this coin even more interesting.

image
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Comments

  • Cool! I bet it was a fun trip
  • JCMhoustonJCMhouston Posts: 5,306 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the writeup, looks like a very good trip.
  • STLNATSSTLNATS Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭
    Enjoyed the pix and commentary. I always enjoy going "back to the source" whenever I get a chance. Such a historic city, guess it goes on my bucket list too!

    image
    Always interested in St Louis MO & IL metro area and Evansville IN national bank notes and Vatican/papal states coins and medals!
  • CIVITASCIVITAS Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭
    An interesting fortress. I spent about 9 days in Turkey a few years back and have been wanting to return ever since. I didn't get a chance to see that particular castle. I hope you got a chance to see Aya Sofia as well since you've posted a coin of Justinian. image
    image
    https://www.civitasgalleries.com

    New coins listed monthly!

    Josh Moran

    CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
  • SwampboySwampboy Posts: 12,873 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great post WillieBoyd2!
    I just purchased a solidus of Justin II minted at Constantinople so that makes this thread all the more enjoyable.


  • OldEastsideOldEastside Posts: 4,602 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Totally Cool

    Steve
    Promote the Hobby
  • BjornBjorn Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    Visited Istanbul (and the Golden Gate) in 2009 - it was an incredible time. Its really neat to see how people over the last several thousand years have updated and adapted the architecture of previous generations... you can almost feel the history walking through parts of the city. Nice tie into a coin you own as well!

    -Bjorn
  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,528 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great write-up and pics!

    Reminded me also of that song by "They Might Be Giants":

    Every gal in Constantinople
    Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
    So if you've a date in Constantinople
    She'll be waiting in Istanbul

  • CIVITASCIVITAS Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭


    << <i>
    Reminded me also of that song by "They Might Be Giants":

    Every gal in Constantinople
    Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
    So if you've a date in Constantinople
    She'll be waiting in Istanbul >>



    Happened to me more than once.......



    image
    image
    https://www.civitasgalleries.com

    New coins listed monthly!

    Josh Moran

    CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,528 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Happened to me more than once.......

    image >>



    Just the other day I had a date in New Amsterdam, but she was waiting for me in New York image
  • HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    Great write up.

    I've visited Istanbul a few times and it's a lovely city. I've also been to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque but I would also recomend a visit to the Kapali Carsi (covered market) or as its known in English the Grand Bazaar and also I would highly recommend visiting the Basilica Cistern:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_Cistern

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Bazaar,_Istanbul

    Also you can't visit Istanbul without trying a Turkish bath. Great for the skin and you feel great after it.
  • HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    PS. I forgot to add, the Basilica Cistern is featured on a James Bond movie staring Roger Moore, but I forget which one.
  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,034 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 31, 2017 8:25PM
    After visiting Istanbul and Justinian's great church, the Hagia Sophia, I had to get a gold coin of Justinian.

    This one arrived today:

    image

    Justinian - AU Solidus
    Obverse: Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing three-quarters to right,
    holding spear over shoulder and shield
    DN IVSTINI-ANVS PP AVG
    Reverse: Angel standing facing, holding jewelled cross and cross on globe,
    star in right field
    VICTORI - A AVCCC B (Oficina B.)
    CONOB in exergue (Constantinople mint)
    Struck: AD 527-537
    Size: 21mm
    Weight: 4.43gm
    Catalog: Sear 137
    Ex. Harlan J. Berk, Chicago

    The Constantinople Mint for gold coins was supposedly located in the Great Palace, which is now gone.

    image

    A small museum occupies this place, it was closed while I was there.

    image
    https://www.brianrxm.com
    The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
    Coins in Movies
    Coins on Television

  • BjornBjorn Posts: 529 ✭✭✭
    Ah, a shame you missed the Palace Mosaics... they are really neat. Basically, they covered a long covered corridor running from the palace by the Hippodrome to the palace down by the Bosphorus. Cool stuff! Also, they are now effectively twenty feet below surface level due to the gradual build up of the ground in the area.
  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,719 ✭✭✭✭✭
    amazing

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

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