Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 46

The Millennia Collection

Byzantine Coins

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 153		Byzantine Empire. Justin II, 565-578 AD. Gold Tremissis (1.54 g), Constantinople mint. Draped and cuirassed bust right, with pearl diadem. Reverse: Victory advancing right, head turned back, holding diadem and globus cruciger; VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM / CONOB. SBC 353; D.O. 13-14; MIB 11a. Good, full strike. Highly lustrous. Choice Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $300 - 350. ().* View details and enlarged photos	Realized $311
Lot 154		Byzantine Empire. Tiberius II Constantine, 578-582 AD. Gold Solidus (4.41 g), Ravenna mint. Facing crowned and cuirassed bust, holding globus cruciger and shield with horseman spearing fallen enemy. Reverse: Cross potent on four steps; VICTORI-A AVGG, CONOB below; officina H. Bold strike on broad flan. A particularly elegant example from this western mint. NGC graded Uncirculated. Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,500. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $5,520
Lot 155		Byzantine Empire. Constans II, 641-668 Gold Tremissis (1.45 g), Syracuse mint, struck c. 649-655 AD. Rare. Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: Cross potent; C in right field; VICTORIA AVGUΘI / CONOB. SBC 1099; BN 14; D.O. 171; Ratto 1534. Choice, boldly struck portrait; a little softness to inscriptions on right side. Very lustrous. Choice Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $700 - 800. ().* View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,150
Lot 156		Byzantine Empire. Constantine IV, Pogonatus, 668-685 AD. Gold Solidus (4.47 g), Constantinople mint, struck 681-685 AD. Diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Constantine facing slightly to right, holding spear with his right hand and with shield, ornamented with a charging horseman, at his left shoulder. Reverse: Cross potent on three steps; officina A. SBC 1158; D.O. 15a; MIB 11. Crisp and highly lustrous, with only minor flatness at bottom of portrait and corresponding legend on reverse. A delightful portrait for this issue. NGC graded Uncirculated. Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,500. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $4,600
Lot 157		Byzantine Empire. Justinian II, Second Reign, 705-711 AD. Gold Solidus (4.43 g), Constantinople mint. Facing bust of Christ, nimbate, holding Gospels. Reverse: Facing crowned busts of Justinian and son, Tiberius. SBC 1414; D.O. 2a. Choice strike and style. Extremely lustrous. NGC graded Choice Uncirculated. At the end of the 5th century, in the year 498 AD, the emperor Anastasius initiated currency reform as part of a package of reforms (mostly financial) following a century of disasters, which ultimately saw the loss of the Roman West to barbarian overlords. During all this time, Rome's gold solidus (this was the earlier, venerable gold aureus, revamped as a lighter coin by Constantine the Great over a century and a half earlier) continued to be used in Byzantium at a relatively consistent weight for the most part, and more so, at a consistent purity of 24 karats. This was the pattern for the solidus for the next five centuries. In this otherwise static situation Justinian left his mark on the Empire's coinage by placing on his own gold coin, as a show of his religious devotion, an image of Christ. He was the first Christian ruler to do so. The image seen on the coins of the first reign differs widely from that employed in the second reign, and reflects the variety of icon portrait traditions then current -- the first being more realistic, and likely more accessible and approachable as a godhead to the viewer, even if these earliest coins with the Holy portrait may have at first proved shocking to the public (as they quite likely did). The second, as seen above, shows Jesus in a very mannered portrayal -- with short, neatly trimmed beard, and his hair arranged into rows of precise curls. Here we have a decidedly "Imperial," perhaps even an authoritarian deity. With Justinian, however, religiosity does not denote any excellence or superiority in personal or moral character. His despotic behavior, his bloody persecutions, the greed and rapaciousness of both he and his minions, coupled with the burden of costly building projects accompanied by loss of Empire to the Arabs, all led to his overthrow, wherein the deposed emperor's new status was made blatant by Justinian's tongue and nose being slit (thus his nickname "Rhinometus" or "no nose"). He was then forced into exile to the Crimea in 695 AD. He would return in 705 at the head of an army of Bulgarian allies and take back the thrown. Much of Justinian's energies in his second reign were devoted to satisfying his vendettas against his personal enemies. The Arabs, again benefiting from the Byzantine's internal conflicts, seized more territory in Asia Minor. Justinian's reign of terror finally ended when revolt arose in his disaffected army, and with the proclamation of a general as emperor. The hated Justinian and his six-year-old son were seized and put to death in December of 711. Personal qualities aside, however, Justinian's artistic innovation would dictate the appearance (once the religious-political-artistic crisis of the "iconoclast" and "iconodules" factions of the 8th and early 9th centuries were resolved) of Byzantine coinage till the end of its existence. It would further spawn a host of imitators and would largely influence the look of European coinage for many centuries to follow. Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000. Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 61. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $7,188
Lot 158		Byzantine Empire. Anastasius II, Artemius, 713-715 AD. Gold Solidus (4.46 g), Constantinople, struck 713-715 AD. Crowned bust of Anastasius facing, in short beard, wearing chlamys and holding globus cruciger and akakia. Reverse: Cross potent on three steps; officina theta. D.O.C. 2h.1; MIB 2; Ratto 1718-21; SBC 1463; Fr-152. Modest edge bump at obverse 11 o'clock and some light hairlines on reverse fields, otherwise sharply struck and highly lustrous. Rare. NGC graded Uncirculated. Following the downfall of his little-loved and ineffective predecessor, Philippicus, a civil servant by the name of Artemius was elevated to the throne, perhaps on the day following the blinding of Philippicus. On his coronation he took the name of Anastasius, in honor of the earlier emperor who had likewise risen from the civil service. Within the following fortnight, the two courtiers who had orchestrated the blinding of Philippicus were also blinded and sent into exile, thus removing these possible rivals to imperial power. The decades of internal problems and internecine squabbles that preoccupied the Byzantines had allowed the Arabs ample opportunities for serious territorial acquisition at the Byzantine's expense. However, the new ruler showed that he had considerable ability to meet the challenges facing him. Constantinople was fortified, with stores laid in, to repulse an expected invasion, plans were laid for a surprise attack on the Muslim armada before it left its port, and efforts were made to reorganize the discipline of the army. In the Spring of 715, Anastasius sent a fleet to Rhodes against the Saracen fleet which was departing from Alexandria. His orders were not only to resist the fleet but to destroy as much of the enemy's stores as possible. While stationed at Rhodes, disaffected troops in the Byzantine forces -- the Opsician troops -- mutinied, proclaiming a certain Theodosius as emperor. The Opsicians sailed back to Constantinople where they held the city under siege for six months. Anastasius was persuaded to abdicate, whereupon he was allowed to retire as a monk, and was exiled to Thessalonica. In 719 or 721, Anastasius returned leading a revolt against Leo III, who had replaced the short-lived Theodosius. His attempt failed. Falling into Leo's hands, he was beheaded for insurrection. Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $4,830
Lot 159		Byzantine Empire. Basil I, the Macedonian, 867-886 AD. Gold Solidus (4.36 g), Constantinople mint, 868-879 AD. Christ, nimbate, enthroned facing and holding Gospels, right hand raised in benediction. Reverse: Crowned facing busts of Basil, at left, wearing loros, and Constantine on right, wearing chlamys, and holding between them a long patriarchal cross. D.O.C. 2c; SBC 1704. Well centered and evenly struck. A few slight deposits remain on the metal. NGC graded About Uncirculated. Basils' reign ushers in the "Macedonian" dynasty, which brought the medieval Byzantine State to the apogee of its power and influence. But as is not unusual for its time and place, the character and moral qualities of the dynasty's founder could hardly be said to have been "respectable." As one historian has put it: "Seldom has there been such an accumulation of moral filth as in the family of Basil the Macedonian." The preceding emperor, the weak-willed and dissolute Michael III, so-called 'the Drunkard,' had the misfortune of taking notice of, and then a liking to Basil. A peasant from the vicinity of Adrianople in Macedonia, Basil had some skill with horses. Apparently blessed with handsome features, this along with his powerful build and athletic strength attracted the notice of a high official in the court. He was made a groom at the imperial court, where he quickly acquired a taste for politics and power. He eventually ingratiated himself to the king, Michael, and soon became his favorite. Basil also shared his charms with women with equal ease. His scandalous relationship with the elderly (and extremely wealthy) Danielis of Patras, produced gifts from her that would lay the foundations of Basil's fortunes. Meanwhile, his political ambitions knew no bounds. Tightening his hold on Michael and his circle, Basil married the emperor's mistress, Eudocia Ingerina, while readily acquiescing to Michael's wishes that she remain his mistress, even in marriage. Basil's next target was Michael's "junior colleague," the Caesar, named Bardas. (Bardas was the brother of Michael's mother and, in terms of performance, the actual helmsman of the State. Earlier, with the young Michael's connivance Bardas helped engineer the removal of the regency of his sister and her lover. As reward, Bardas received the office and title of Caesar from the grateful Michael.) Basil now turned his energies to having Bardas assassinated, and with that success, persuaded Michael to crown him as co-emperor in 866. The following year, on September 23, 867 AD, Basil had his unfortunate patron murdered. His dubious method of achieving the throne notwithstanding, Basil actually proved himself a very competent ruler. Despite the loss of Malta to the Arabs, along with depriving the Byzantines of all of Sicily in 878 AD, Basil actually made some headway in the territorial incursions of Islam, and regained land in Mesopotamia as far east as the Euphrates. His reign also saw the growth of Byzantine influence in the Balkans, and increasing trade in that direction. So too was seen the rise of Venice as a distributor of Byzantine goods in the West. Ironically, in home affairs Basil was very active in jurisprudence. Basil died in 886, following a hunting accident. He was succeeded by his second son, Leo VI. Estimated Value $900 - 1,000. Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 62. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,783