Byzantine coins

This page: Byzantine, Medieval, and Arabic coins for sale (and a very few "world" coins)

Go to: Newest, Byzantine in chronological order, Anonymous folles, Vandal and Ostrogothic,
Arabic Turkoman figural bronze, Crusader, and Medieval (including Armenian).
Byzantine coins from the Cherson mint.
Late Byzantine. World coins.

TERMS: Prices are in brackets: [$xx]. I accept PayPal and Zelle (I prefer Zelle in the US. Here is why) and checks and cash. Postage in the US is $2 for orders up to $25, $3 for orders up to $50, $4 for orders up to $100, and an additional $2 for each hundred thereafter.
Usually I don't ship to other countries because shipping is too expensive ($20 or $25). More-detailed terms of sale are here.
After I confirm by e-mail that I still have the coin, you can pay by logging into your account and sending Zelle or PayPal payment to my e-mail address.
To order, or to ask any questions, e-mail me, Warren, at: e-mail

Purple marks items that have sold and are no longer available.

Most are in chronological order (Exceptions are the new ones at the top). Skip down to
Anastasius, Justin, Justinian, Vandal and Ostrogothic, Justin II, Maurice, Heraclius, Constans II, Constantine IV, late Byzantine (anonymous and later), Cherson Mint coins

Most recent: 2024, April 24: This page cleaned up with very many sold coins removed.
2024, April 9: Tancred, of the First Crusade. Justinian, Antioch year 13.
2024, April 2: Justinian
2024, March 8: Alexius, anonymous Class J. Tiberius II X, Justin II Є from Nicomedia.
2024, March 6: A rare Turkoman.

Recent:

Justinian, 527-565
Large. 31 mm and 11.24 grams.
One-year type.
20 nummia.
Year 13 and mintmark
ΘV with a bar above, for Theopolis, the new name of Antioch.
Year 13 only, the first year of issue of facing-bust coins at Antioch.
Sear 228.
DOC I Justinian 235, 3 pieces, none this good.
Antioch mint. There is some green, but I do not think it is active. I bought it in 2007 and it has not changed (but I live in a dry climate. If you live in a damp region I'd be careful to keep it dry.) [$49 SOLD]

First Crusade
Tancred, regent at Antioch
1101-1112.
22 mm. 3.33 grams.
Obverse: Bust of St. Peter facing, nimbate, with curly beard, with scroll in left and diagonal long cross in right.
Θ/ΠЄ to left and POC down the right (Identifying St. Peter)
Reverse: Legend in four lines:
KЄBOI
ΘHTOΔV
ΛOCOVT (His name begins here: T-ANKRI[D])
ANKRI
+
"Oh Lord come to the aid of thy servant Tancred"
CCS Antioch 3 (page 199) Tancred's first type of four.
Metcalf 49-62. Also page 25, type 6.
Crusader coins of the First Crusade are usually not in good shape, and this one is no exception. At least you can read his name, which is often not the case. [$19 SOLD]

Justinian, 527-565
25 mm. 7.82 grams.
K
* above and below, Δ to right.
Sear 164.

Legend pretty good. Slightly larger than a quarter. [$19]

Tiberius II, 578-582
21-16 mm
Decanummia
Sear 436, Constantinople
$19
ex Dan Clark, March 3, 2007, with his crude ticket and with my ticket
None on vcoins under $50! (All of them cost too much!)

Maurice, 582-602
22 mm. 5.57 grams.
Bust facing, crown with trefoil ornament
mappa and eagle-tipped scepter
K
Year XIII = AD 595/6
Sear 535 Antioch mint.
ex Marc Poncin (England) in 2003.
Nice portrait and crown [$26 SOLD]

Mamluk coins. Small figural types. Please search for these on vcoins. You will find they are unusual.

Mamluk
19 mm. 2.89 grams.
al-Sali Salah al-Din Salih
AH 752-755. AD 1351-1354
Bird right, head turned back
Legend
[$16]

Maurice, 582-602
22-20 mm. 6.20 grams.
K year X
TES
Thessalonica mint, which is less common
Sear 509
Nice light colored cover [$29]

Crusader:

Crusader. First Crusade.
Tancred, regent at Antioch, 1101-1103 and 1104-112
21 mm. 2.72 grams
St. Peter, standing, with right hand extended in blessing and left holding a long cross.
Square cross with
D S
F T in the quadrants, for
"Domine Salvum Fac Tancredum"
"Lord, save Tancred"
Coins of the Crusader States Antioch 6, Tancred's fourth type.
Lovely black-and-tan Syrian patina. The DSFT is very well-centered and much better than most. [$55]

Byzantine: Many Byzantine coins below in chronological order, after some literature.

Byzantine reference literature for sale:

HAHN, Wolfgang and METCALF, William E.-1988 (ANS) "Studies in Early Byzantine Gold Coinage"-144pp, 24pls, hardbound in red cloth, gilt, 4to. [$15]

Sternberg catalog 8 (11/78) MV, HQP. 1015 ancients. 339 G, 41 Aksum, 374 R, 238 Byz including AE, 18 Arab-Byz, on 50 ppl + 2E [$8, reduced to $6]
Aksumite (41), Byzantine AE (among 238)

Catalog: Baldwin's 5 (11 Oct. 1995) "Byzantine Gold Coins from the P. J. Donald Collection" 285 Byz gold on 12 large ppl. Photos okay but worse than most. [$5, reduced to $3]
Byzantine gold (285)

Elsen 125 (2015, June 13) 1085 ancients among 1982. 120 G, 157 Celtic, 25 RR, 130 RI, 16 RP, 544 Byz gold and silver "Collection Henri Potteir", 32 Carolingian [$7, reduced to $5]
544 Byzantine gold and silver

Anastasius, 491-518

Justin I, 518-527

Justin I, 518-527
Struck at Antioch.
14 mm. 1.90 grams.
5 nummia. Small coin.

Backwards epsilon (for "5") and Tyche in shrine with river-god below. Why the epsilon remained backwards for all the dies in this large issue is unknown to me.
Remarkably clear obverse legend. Good portrait for the type. Flan flaw causing a hole all the way through the coin in the back of his head. Better details than almost all of this type, but with the flan flaw.
Sear 111. [$21, reduced to $19]

Justin, 518-527
Pentanummia
13 mm. 2.08 grams.
Large chi-rho, N to left and Є to right, two dots low in fields
Sear 93, attributed to Nicomedia because of the "N".

None on vcoins as I write. [$27, reduced to $19]

Justin 1, 518-527
Small. 5-nummia. 12 mm.
Tyche of Antioch seated left.
Retrograde Є (Why did these have "5" retrograde?)
Sear 111. DO 57.
[$23, reduced to $14]

Justin and Justinian, joint reign, 527

Justinian I. 527-565.
Æ Pentanummium (20mm, 3.2 g).
Constantinople mint. Struck 538-542.
Diademed and draped bust right
Large E; A to right.
Sear 170. Large for the denomination. [$22, reduced to $19]

Justinian, 527-565
19-17 mm. 3.02 grams.
*I* (for 10-nummi)
CON
Sear 166
DOC 34, page 82, plate XIV
Unusual with stars either side of the I.
[$22, reduced to $17, reduced to $15]

Justinian, 527-565
14-13 mm. 2.22 grams.
Year 35 (late in his reign and therefore small)
Sear 205, Nicomedia
DOC 159
[$12, reduced to $8, reduced to $7]

Justinian, 527-565
5-nummi
Small. 14 mm. 1.33 grams.
Large epsilon for 5, cross to right
Sear 172
MIBE 103b
DOC 97e
[$19, reduced to $12]

Justinian, 527-565
10-nummi
year 32?
Nicomedia
Sear 205
[$12, reduced to $7]

Justinian 1-nummis, small, 9 mm. 0.84 grams. AE nummis.
Chi-rho reverse. Close to the end of this denomination.
Sear 283
Rare, Carthage mint.
Remarkably good detail and even some obverse legend, which is not common.
Cute! [$79, reduced to $49]

Justin II, 565-578
1.75 grams. 15.6 - 13 mm.
Pentanummia
Complicated monogram
Epsilon (for 5) Γ
Sear 363 from Constantinople (we can tell by the officina number)
[$17, reduced to $14] I bought this in 2004 for $17. (Not a good dollar investment!)
I hope you don't think ancient coins are a monetary investment. They are an investment in your mind and pleasure, not your wallet!

A rarity: A pentanummus of Maurice not in Sear. Two examples!

Maurice, 582-602
Small. Pentanummium. 15 mm. 1.44 grams.
Not in Sear
Monogram much like his monogram 16 on page 32, but quite different at the right end where what is a "K" on 16 is a and E or square C (lunate S) with bits of the K or maybe E.
Є+ on the reverse.
Unlisted in Sear. cf. Sear 540 which is different.
MIBEC Maurice V105 where the monogram is not as clear as this one. ("V" numbers were not known in time for the first edition.)
Maybe it would be Sear 542A in a new edition, were one to appear (It won't).
Theoupolis (Antioch). Rev. Large Є with cross. SB 540 var (monogram, Ч) . Good fine.
Very rare. [$59]

Maurice, 582-682
Pentanummium, 15 mm. 1.76 grams.
Sear --. This monogram has much in common with monogram 16, but that one has "K" on the right and this one has "E" or "C" in addition with an augmented middle bar containing the "K".
Sear's 540 has the closet mongoram, monogram 16, with U, and 542 has the U but a much different monogram. So, I'd put this one as Sear 542A (for the next edition). DOC --.
MIBEC Maurice V105 (only one listed, from the Bendall collection)
Very rare. Very nice obverse monogram. [$85, reduced to $65]

Maurice, 882-602
Theoupolis (Antioch) Decanummium Æ
18mm, 2.8 g.
Crowned facing bust, holding mappa in right and eagle-tipped scepter in left hand / Large X; cross above, R below; ANNO II across field.
Cute! Lettering very clear with lovely light cover.
Sear 536 [$19, reduced to $17]

Maurice, 582-602
at Antioch
22-20 mm. 5.27 grams.
Sear 535
Interesting date with 16 written "UIX"
When the numeral system is additive, you don't need to put the units after the tens.
The P-like symbol below is a mintmark for Theopolis = Antioch.
Lovely light cover. A nice coin. [$20, reduced to $18

Maurice, 582-602
27-25 mm. Struck year 15 = 596/7
at Nicomedia
Sear 512, page 123.
ex Wolf at Chicago ANA, August 15, 2013. No ticket
Clear reverse. [$17, reduced o $15] with my collection ticket.

Maurice, 582-602
20-nummia
Good bust with mappa and eagle-tipped scepter
Sear 534. DO 178
ANNO XX U
Year U = 5, struck 586/7.
Good facial details. [$19, reduced to $12]

Phocas, 602-610

Phocas, with Leontia AD 602-610.
Dated RY 5 (AD 606/7).
Theoupolis (Antioch)
Decanummium Æ (15mm, 2.2 g)
Phocas and Leontia standing facing, holding globus cruciger and cruciform scepter, respectively; cross above
Large X; cross above, date across field, rho below.
Small for the denomination. This is the size of some 5-nummis coins.
Sear 675. Cute! [$23 reduced to $19]

Heraclius, 610-614

Constans II, 641-668

Constans II, 641-668
20-17 mm. 3.98 grams.
Facing bust
Three busts above a small M. (The left two busts are almost gone.)
Ex James Lovette in 2006.
With his ticket, I think from Dan Clark's ancient coins, which notes he bought it in Feb. 1980.
Sear 1014. DOC 89 page 459f struck "666-668"
[$17, reduced to $10] Compare to the $85 and $95 examples on vcoins.

Constans II, 641-668
Struck 652/3
29-24 mm (Pretty large for the era). 4.89 grams.
Emperor standing facing, I A to right (indiction year 11, which dates the coin)
M over SCL for the mint in Sicily at Syracuse.
Overstruck. At 5:00 on the reverse part of SB1107 (DOC 178) is visible.
You can see below the M the chest part of a facing bust.
Why would they overstrike a coin of the same ruler? I don't know, but they did.
ex James Lovette in 2006. Ex Joseph Lepczyk 40 (June 1981), lot 269, with his ticket for $27.50.
An interesting overstrike [$39, reduced to $23]

Constantine IV, 668-685

Constantine IV, 668-695
Ragged 24-22 mm. 3.65 grams.
No legend. Bust facing, beardless, holding globus cruciger
M with monogram above and standing figures with long crosses on either side.
SCL in exergue for Sicily and its mint, Syracuse.
Sear 1207. Hahn III MIB 104
[$59, reduced to $37]

Justinian II, first reign, 685-695

Constantine V, 741-775

Constantine V and Leo IV, 741-775
17 mm. Small.
Two facing busts, Constantine and Leo IV
Facing bust of Leo III on the reverse.
Sear 1569. Please compare this one to his plate coin.

[$35, reduced to $29]

Leo V, 813-820

Leo V, 813-820
20 mm. 5.40 grams.
Sear 1635. Lambda for Leo and K for Constantine.
[$22, reduced to $14]

Basil I, 867-886

Leo VI, 886-912

Constantine VII, 913-959

Anonymous folles and later, 970ff

Anonymous follis, Class I
Attributed to Nicephorus III, 1078-1081
23-21 mm. 3.87 grams.
Bought from Dan Clark, Clark's Ancient Coins, Nov. 27, 2005
at $29.
Reddish surfaces. Nice cross on the reverse.
Sear 1889. Now, here, [$25, reduced to $22]

Anonymous follis, Class H
with patriarchal cross (two crossbars)
with large pellets at the ends
Attributed to Michael VII, 1071-1078.
One of the scarcest anonymous follis classes.
Sear 1880
Surfaces not great. Rarely (never?) comes nice.
[$19, reduced to $17]

Constantine X, Ducas, 1059-1067

Nicephorus III Botaniates, AD 1078-1081
Æ Follis. (22mm, 7.4 g) Constantinople mint. Three-quarter length standing figure of Christ Pantokrator facing between two stars; IC-XC across upper fields Cross with pellets at extremities and eight-pointed star within circle at centre;
C - Φ N - Δ in angles.
Sear 1888 [$24]
C Φ (The "C" is a lunate "S" (sigma)) ΣΤAYΡЄ ΦΥΛATTЄ "O Cross, Protect"
N Δ (Sear 1888) "Nicephorus [III] Despot/emperor" NIKHΦωPON ΔЄCΠOTH

Nasir al-din Muhammad, 1249-1260
Jital. 16-15 mm. 3.50 grams.
ibn Hasan Qarlagh, Shah of Kurraman (NE Pakistan)
stylized horse right
Mitchner WoI 951
Remarkably nice horse depicted in just a few strokes [$39, reduced to $29]
ex. Jim Lovette (author of Biblical Related Coins) in 2007

Coins from Medieval Hungary:

Medieval Hungary. Anonymous. 12th C. 1141-1161
Tiny! Silver 12 mm. 0.33 grams.
The denomination is called a "denar"" It is sometimes called a "penny."
Cross and crescents/cross in circles
Huszar 92. Rethy-Probszt 88, plate V group V p. 57, between 1141 and 1161.
Small, well-struck, and cute. [$33, reduced to $29]

Medieval Hungary. Stephan II. 1114-1131
Tiny! Silver. 11 mm. 0.33 grams.
The denomination is called a "denar"" It is sometimes called a "penny."
Rethy-Probszt 66, plate V, Stephan II 1114-1131
Excellent centering on a small silver coin [$31, reduced to $29]

Medieval Hungary. Anonymous.
Tiny! 13 mm. Silver. 0.33 grams.
The denomination is called a "denar"" It is sometimes called a "penny."
Time of Beles III, Emmerichs, and Andreas II" c. 1173-1235
according to Rethy-Probszt X-146 group D, plate IX page 64 and page 62.
Wonderful multiple crosses. Very well struck and centered. Rare. Have you ever seen a coin with this many crosses? [$79, reduced to $59]

Bundi, Indian Princely State, 1 Paisa, 1872 (not ancient)
VICTORI
17-16 mm and very thick at 6 mm. 17.42 grams.

Odd-shaped coin! [$9, reduced to $6 + $4 shipping in the US--it is too thick for a normal envelope]

Augustus Coins: Roman coins, Greek coins, Byzantine coins, and other ancient coins for sale