The last Roman
JCMhouston
Posts: 5,306 ✭✭✭
Normally I wouldn't buy a damaged coin, but, I've wanted a bronze of Justinian I for a while as a bookend to my Roman set, I just didn't want to pay the price for a really high grade example. This one popped up with some damage to the rim you can see at 3 o'clock on the right edge but it had such good details, and the price was so right I decided to go ahead and pick it up.
Justinian I (527-565), Æ 40 Nummi – Follis, 22.08g., 40mm.Cyzicus mint, first officina, dated regnal year15 (A.D. 541 / 542), D N IVSTINI ANVS P P AVC, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger and shield with figure on horseback riding right; cross to right, rev., large M (mark of value), ANNO to left, cross above, XЧ (date) to right, A below, KYZ in exergue, (S 207).
Also referred to as Justinian the Great, and the Last Roman, Justinian embarked on an attempt to restore the Roman empire to it's previous glory while Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. While not completely successful he did recover much of the lost Western Roman Empire and all of North Africa.Among his exploits he completely rewrote Roman Law in the form passed down to many current countries in the west, and built the Hagia Sofia (at a cost of 20,000 pounds of gold), one of the great pieces of architecture in the Roman empire.
Justinian I (527-565), Æ 40 Nummi – Follis, 22.08g., 40mm.Cyzicus mint, first officina, dated regnal year15 (A.D. 541 / 542), D N IVSTINI ANVS P P AVC, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger and shield with figure on horseback riding right; cross to right, rev., large M (mark of value), ANNO to left, cross above, XЧ (date) to right, A below, KYZ in exergue, (S 207).
Also referred to as Justinian the Great, and the Last Roman, Justinian embarked on an attempt to restore the Roman empire to it's previous glory while Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. While not completely successful he did recover much of the lost Western Roman Empire and all of North Africa.Among his exploits he completely rewrote Roman Law in the form passed down to many current countries in the west, and built the Hagia Sofia (at a cost of 20,000 pounds of gold), one of the great pieces of architecture in the Roman empire.
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I see the dread "White Prongs of Death".... what's the NGC grade?
Justinian looks good in gold, too. (Note that my tremissis also has a little edge indiscretion.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian
<< <i>That's a nice piece. I'd love to have a piece like for both the heft and the pleasing desert patina. >>
These are in abundant supply - you can get nice examples like this raw on ebay for $30-50.
And lower grade examples with readable legends (D N IVSTINIANVS) for $10-20.
Hmm, yeah, at 22g, that is the weight of 2 half dollars. Other follises are listed at 16g.
DPOTD
Interestingly, I recently thought it might be fun to try and build an AE denomination set of Justinian and just bought my first coin (still in the mail), also a 40 nummi piece that I also thought was reasonably priced for the grade. If I'd seen yours first, it would have been a hard choice to make. Small world.
<< <i>
<< <i>That's a nice piece. I'd love to have a piece like for both the heft and the pleasing desert patina. >>
These are in abundant supply - you can get nice examples like this raw on ebay for $30-50.
And lower grade examples with readable legends (D N IVSTINIANVS) for $10-20.
Hmm, yeah, at 22g, that is the weight of 2 half dollars. Other follises are listed at 16g. >>
If you can regularly find nice examples like the one posted above for $30-$50 on eBay, please ship it to me for a quick tripling of your money. High quality examples of this series trade for much more than they used to. Even the low grade ones regularly bring $25+ these days. That being said, you can get coins of reasonable quality in that price range, but they won't be like this one.
JCM, don't fret that edge split, as it is part of the manufacture of the coin. Your example is about as close to perfectly round as I have ever seen for this issue.
https://www.civitasgalleries.com
New coins listed monthly!
Josh Moran
CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>That's a nice piece. I'd love to have a piece like for both the heft and the pleasing desert patina. >>
These are in abundant supply - you can get nice examples like this raw on ebay for $30-50.
And lower grade examples with readable legends (D N IVSTINIANVS) for $10-20.
Hmm, yeah, at 22g, that is the weight of 2 half dollars. Other follises are listed at 16g. >>
If you can regularly find nice examples like the one posted above for $30-$50 on eBay, please ship it to me for a quick tripling of your money. High quality examples of this series trade for much more than they used to. Even the low grade ones regularly bring $25+ these days. That being said, you can get coins of reasonable quality in that price range, but they won't be like this one.
>>
Here is one in particular that I saw when I looked on ebay sold listings last night.
Justinian I AE Follis Cyzica sold for $59.55
However, no Nummis denomination or weight was listed. So this could be a much smaller coin.
And it is not as high grade (I think that probably explains the difference in price).
The patina looks similar, though.
Here's a 40 Nummis, higher grade, but without the same "earthy" patina:
ebay sold for $30.46
I should have phrased my post last night from the perspective of a "type collector":
Genuine coins with Justinian I are plentiful and inexpensive.
Though when you want something very high grade, it will cost quite a bit more.
Yos the the two examples you have given are quite a bit lower grade compared to the one in the original post and the second coin you have linked has quite a few heavy scratches on the reverse. So I think they are obtainable for a moderate price but harder to find in higher grades.
https://www.civitasgalleries.com
New coins listed monthly!
Josh Moran
CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
<< <i>Yos the the two examples you have given are quite a bit lower grade compared to the one in the original post and the second coin you have linked has quite a few heavy scratches on the reverse. So I think they are obtainable for a moderate price but harder to find in higher grades. >>
Good point - I hadn't noticed the scratches on the second example - when I viewed the images on ebay, they were quite a bit smaller.
I agree they are lower grade than the OP's coin.
At this point I was just trying to show what was on ebay in the price range I mentioned with a similar "look".