Preview
Creation Date
914–919 CE
Geography
Minted in Constantinople
Culture
Byzantine
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
25 mm
6.91 g
Credit Line
Long-term Loan from Brad Hostetler, 2025
Accession Number
2025.10
Condition
On both sides, the surface is moderately worn although most details remain visible. Areas where the follis is worn appear smoother, shinier, and lighter in color. There is minimal oxidation, but the follis does appear a darker brown in some areas. Between the 9 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions, on the obverse, the rim is thicker. This side also features a cracked rim (11 to 4 o’clock), visible flan (10 to 11 o’clock), and a flat rim on the left side. Not only is there a slight off-strike to the right, but the details in that direction are illegible. The details on the left side are slightly obscured. (December 2024)
References
Philip Grierson, Catalog of Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, vol.3, Leo III - Nicephorus III, 717-1081 (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1993), pp. 559–60 (DOC 22).
Description
This bronze follis was minted between 914 and 919 during the reign of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 908–959). On the obverse, two figures with frontal heads and bodies stand on either side of a large two-tiered cross which they hold. There is an inscription above them stretching around the rim from the 8 o’clock to the 4 o’clock positions. The right figure is taller than the figure on the left, although neither of them are as tall as the cross between which stretches the length of the coin vertically. Both figures wear patterned drapery (the left having a loros and right wearing a chlamys overcoat), along with crowns which are decorated with crosses and dangling ornamentation. The right figure has a clasp holding together her chlamys. Her right arm and the left figure’s left arm extend outwards to hold the cross. Above both figures reads: “+CONSTANT’CEZOHb’,” which can be translated as “Constantine and Zoe, Emperors,” although damage obscures the latter third of the inscription.
The reverse exposes an off-strike to the left, revealing the flan at the lower-right edge. Because of this, the details on the left side are slightly obscured. Having only 5 lines of text, the reverse is a much simpler design than the obverse. Preceding the lettering is a small cross, similar to the one on the obverse. The coin reads left to right, top to bottom: “+CONS / TANTINO, / CEZOHbA / SILISRO / MEOn,” meaning “Constantine and Zoe, emperors of the Romans.” The words have no spaces, and run continuously from one line to the next, taking up the entirety of the space on the reverse.
Angela Espenscheid (Florida State University, ’28) for ARH 2020 Reading and Writing Art History (fall 2024), taught by Dr. Lynn Jones.