LARGE EARLY REGAL YEAR 15 (542AD) BYZANTINE BRONZE FOLLIS OF JUSTINIAN 1 THE GREAT (EMPEROR 527-465 AD) NICOMEDIA MINT

COUNTRY: BYZANTINE EMPIRE (EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE)

EMPEROR: JUSTINIAN I THE GREAT (EMPEROR FROM 527-565 AD)

DATE OR REGAL YEAR: 542AD (IN THE 15TH REGAL YEAR OR ANNOXV OF JUSTINIAN THE GREATS RULE)

MINT: NICOMEDIA, BITHYNIA, MODERN-DAY IZMIT, TURKEY

DENOMINATION: FOLLIS = 40 NUMMI

COMPOSITION: BRONZE

DIAMETER: 40MM

OBVERSE: DN IVSTINIANVS PP AVG, HELMETED, CUIRASSED BUST FACING, HOLDING CROSS ON GLOBE AND SHIELD WITH HORSEMAN MOTIF, CROSS TO RIGHT

REVERSE: LARGE M (REFERS TO DENOMINATION 40 NUMMI OR 1FOLLIS), ANNO XV TO LEFT AND RIGHT (REFERS TO YEAR MADE READ FROM TOP TO BOTTOM), CROSS ABOVE, OFFICINA LETTER BELOW (B), MINT MARK NIKO (REFERS TO MINTING LOCATION)

CONDITION: CIRCULATED AND USED WITH A BEAUTIFUL PATINA.THE PROFILE OF JUSTINIAN 1 IS STILL CLEARLY VISIBLE AS IS ALL THE INFO REGARDING MINT AND DENOMINATION.

SIZE: 40MM DIAMETER
 
BYZANTINE EMPIRE: The Byzantine Empire also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.The beginnings of the Byzantine Empire lie in the decision of Roman emperor Constantine I to relocate the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium on 11 May 330. The popular name Constantinople or 'City of Constantine' soon replaced the emperor's own official choice of 'New Rome'.
 
JUSTINIAN 1: Justinian I, also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Roman Empire.
 
FOLLIS:
The start of what is viewed as Byzantine currency by numismatics began with Anastasius who reformed the late Roman Empire coinage system which consisted of the gold solidus and the bronze nummi. The nummus was an extremely small bronze coin, at about 810 mm, weight of 0.56 g making it very inconvenient because a large number of them were required even for small transactions.
 
New bronze coins, multiples of the nummus were introduced, such as the 40 nummi (also known as the follis),20 nummi (also known as the semifollis). The obverse (front) of these coins featured a highly stylized portrait of the emperor while the reverse (back) featured the value of the denomination represented according to the Greek numbering system (M=40, =30, K=20, I=10, E=5).
 
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