Preview
Creation Date
1059–1067
Geography
Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)
Culture
Byzantine
Medium
Copper
Dimensions
38mm
0.314 oz. (9.1 g)
Credit Line
Gift of Brad Hostetler, 2022
Accession Number
2022.33
Provenance
Purchased by Brad Hostetler from Belleair Coins (Largo, Fla.) on December 31, 2019.
Condition
The obverse of the coin is less defined, with the relief showing greater wear. A circular line around the figure's head is broken at the ten, eleven, one, and three o'clock positions. Additionally, there is a thin crack across the lower section of the figure's face, crossing from the lower left to upper right. The reverse relief is also worn, but the details are more visible — specifically the figure's head and the lettering. However, the facial features are indiscernible from wear. Both sides have a circular ring, more degraded on the obverse, surrounding the imagery left from the seal. The copper edge of the coin extends past the edge of the seal. - Casey Morss (’24), December 2022
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings
Obverse:
+EMM[A] NOVHΛ = Emmanuel
IC XC = Jesus Christ
Reverse:
+KWNRΛCI ΛEVCOΔOVK = Constantine Emperor Doukas
References
Grierson, Philip. 1973. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, vol. 3, Leo III to Nicephorus III, 717–1081. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, no. 9, p. 777.
Description
This Byzantine coin features two figures in bust form. On the obverse, Christ is shown haloed and holding the Bible in his left hand and giving a gesture of blessing with his right. The inscription along the edge identifies him as Emmanuel and the abbreviations IC XC for “Jesus Christ” are placed on either side of his head. On the reverse, the image of Constantine X is dressed in imperial clothing and holding a globus cruciger, an imperial insignia composed of an orb surmounted by a cross. He is identified by his inscription around the edge of the coin: “Emperor Constantine Doukas.” The coin is a bronze follis worth 40 nummi. It was minted sometime during Constantine’s brief reign, between 1059 and 1067. The purchasing power of this coin was relatively low and used by citizens for everyday purchases; as a result, it would have been widely circulated throughout the middle and lower classes.
The coin's minimal inscriptions place a heavy emphasis on iconography. The inclusion of a portrait of Christ and a ruler on separate sides of a coin is a fifth-century style that Constantine X revived in the eleventh century (Morrisson and Bendall 2012, p. 223). Giving the images of Christ and Constantine seemingly duplicate portrayals of composition and size causes the figures to appear comparable in importance and power. With the inscriptions pushed to the periphery, the figures appear, at first glance, to be the same person. Upon further inspection, the imagery produces the idea that Christ and Constantine are of the same religious power and importance or that Constantine's rule is supported by Christ — a divine rule. Additionally, this follis' imagery is a reference to "the progressive Christianization of the coins' imagery from the fifth century onward combined with the widely spread belief in the special powers associated with the emperor's portrait led to the use of coins or imitations of them with an apotropaic intention" (Morrisson and Bendall 2012, p. 218). Constantine did not seek to use the currency to make his rule stand out but as a call to return to a solid religious foundation on which the government was founded (Morrisson and Bendall 2012, p. 223).
The inclusion of similar portrait busts of Christ and the ruler on separate sides of a coin is a style invented by the Emperor Justinian II (r. 685–695, 705–711). Constantine revived this practice using a frontal, symmetrical composition to compare himself to God. This “intrinsic” iconological meaning, according to Erwin Panofsky, of the coin's iconography made it so that the message of Constantine's divine power was translatable to citizens of every class (Panofsky 1955, pp. 26–54). Constantine did not seek to use the currency to make his rule stand out but as a call to return to a solid religious foundation on which the government was founded.
Bibliography
Grierson, Philip. 1973. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, vol. 3, Leo III to Nicephorus III, 717–1081. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
Grierson, Philip. 1999. Byzantine Coinage. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
Morrisson, Cécile, and Simon Bendall. 2012. “Byzantine ‘Medals’: Coins, Amulets and Piety.” In Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice-Mary Talbot, eds. Denis Sullivan et al, 217–238. Leiden: Brill.
Panofsky, Erwin. 1955. “Iconography and Iconology: An Introduction to the Study of Renaissance Art.” In Meaning in the Visual Arts: Papers in and on Art History, 26–54. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press.
Casey Morss (’24) for ARHS 110 (Fall 2022)