Identifying Byzantine coins

Crosses, Christ portraits, and big value marks — the empire after Rome.

Byzantine bronze announces itself with a huge value mark filling the reverse: M for 40 nummi, K for 20, I for 10. Gold solidi carry frontal emperor portraits holding a cross, and from the 9th century the face of Christ. Later gold becomes cup-shaped (scyphate) — a bowl-like coin is almost certainly Byzantine or an imitation of one.

Legends mix Greek and Latin. Look for the mint (CON for Constantinople), the regnal year (ANNO with a number), and the officina letter. Portraits are stiff and frontal, quite unlike the profile heads of earlier Rome.

Byzantine bronze often comes crude, overstruck on older coins, and worn nearly flat — that is normal, not a sign of a fake. Note the value mark, any date, and the overall shape, and record the weight before venturing a ruler.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on coins

Identifying coins — Portrait, legend, and strike.

Identifying tokens and jettons — Not quite coins.

Identifying Roman silver coins — Denarii, antoniniani, and siliquae — and how to tell them apart.

Identifying Roman bronze coins — From heavy sestertii to tiny late-Roman nummi.

Identifying Greek coins — City badges, gods, and fabric — reading coins struck before Rome ruled.

Identifying Celtic coins — Abstract horses, wreaths, and heads — coinage reimagined by Iron Age artists.

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