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The last Roman

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).

image

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.

Comments

  • AethelredAethelred Posts: 9,288 ✭✭✭
    Looks like a nice example, I would not let the issue at 3:00 (which looks like a minor striking crack to me) trouble me at all.
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  • that doesn't both me at all, this is a great example with a nice sandy patina, love it image
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  • SwampboySwampboy Posts: 12,876 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That's a nice piece. I'd love to have a piece like for both the heft and the pleasing desert patina.
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Love those big folles, and that one has superb patina which totally compensates for the little rim split (which I agree is a pretty typical striking flaw and not a big issue at all for me). image

    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.)

    image

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  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Big ambitions, all undone by some fleas....
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian
  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <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.
  • harashaharasha Posts: 3,079 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Hmm, JCM. It appears we troll the same websites, as you may see, in a couple of days. I was considering this item, but decided that if I stuck to Byzantine, I should keep on with Maurice Tiberius. This follis is a genuine gem for any eclectic collection.
    Honors flysis Income beezis Onches nobis Inob keesis

    DPOTD
  • STLNATSSTLNATS Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭
    That's an outstanding example and I wonder if the nick isn't "as made." Congrats.

    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.

    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 ✭✭✭


    << <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.
    image
    https://www.civitasgalleries.com

    New coins listed monthly!

    Josh Moran

    CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
  • bronzematbronzemat Posts: 2,602 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Gotta agree with Josh, that is a super nice example and the edge issue isnt a big deal. Part of the coin itself. Most AE Byzantines are scrappers anyways. Ones like this are a sight to behold.
  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <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.
    image
    image
    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
    image
    image

    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.
  • HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    Very nice example JC. I've always loved Byzantine coins.

    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.
  • CIVITASCIVITAS Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭
    Both of the eBay coins are very acceptable coins for the money, most definitely.
    image
    https://www.civitasgalleries.com

    New coins listed monthly!

    Josh Moran

    CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <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".
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