23. The Pseudo-Byzantine Coinage.
The earliest Arab-Byzantine coins: 638-647 (Foss; 23.4. 5.26 gms. 030. 2008). 1 623.99. Emperor and Empress standing (Goodwin Type A).
23.1. m; NIUKO below.
10.16 gms. 160.
637.99.
23.5.*
5.24 gms. 180. 779.02.
Three standing figures each holding globus cruciger or cross (Goodwin Type B).
Type B (i) (M); Cyprus imitations. PS&S Class I.1a; pseudo-mint mark (a).
M, X/u/II to right, à beneath, KVâP below.
23.6.
4.94 gms. 180. 205.87.
23.2.* 5.66 gms. 030. 110.85.
23.7.
4.12 gms. 180. 1366.08.
23.3.*
5.63 gms. 200. 502.95.
308
Type B (i) (M); Cyprus imitations. Type B (ii) (M); other imitations citing year 17 PS&S Class I.1a; pseudo-mint mark (a). (mainly X/u/II). PS&S Class I.1; pseudo-mint marks b-d.
23.8.* 4.11 gms. 200. 23.12.* 781.02. NñuP; à. MIB x44. 6.48 gms. 180. 474.95.
23.9.
3.96 gms. 180.
587.97. 23.13. Nñu; à. 5.61 gms. 190. 536.95.2
23.10.* 3.69 gms. 150. 586.97. 23.14. X/1/I.
CON; à. 5.47 gms. 150. 585.96.
23.11. 3.50 gms. 150. 780.02.
23.15.*
VOk; à. 4.42 gms. 000. 836.02.
309
Year 7 (I1 or 1/I).
23.16. ñCP; B.
MIB x51. 4.27 gms. 270. 500.95. 23.20.* NIKO; B. 9.45 gms. 210. 798.02.
23.17.
CON; ». 3.84 gms. 000. 499.95. 23.21.*
CON; à. 8.09 gms. 180. 3 1601.12.
23.18. ñCP; B. MIB x51. Year 12 (IX/I) or X/II). 3.61 gms. 180. 837.02.
Type B (iii) (M); other pseudo-dates/mint marks. 23.22.* PS&S Class I.1; pseudo-mint marks b-d. NIKO. 4.41 gms. 200. Year 5 (u). 916.02.
23.19. NIKO; A. 23.23. 8.20 gms. 340. 494.95. ñ. 3.86 gms. 180. 1928.13.
310
Type B (iii) (M); other pseudo-dates/mint marks. Year 16 (X/1).
Year 13 (X/II/I or X/III).
23.28. B. 23.24. 4.85 gms. 240. CON; à. 1287.06.4
7.17 gms. 000. 1995.14.
Year 14 (X/IIII). 23.29. CON; à. 4.25 gms. 200. 1367.08. 23.25.* tHP; B.
MIB x43. 5.58 gms. 290.
152.87.
23.30.* ION; A.
2.97 gms. 190. 651.99.
23.26. tHP; B. Year 20 (X/X). MIB x43. 5.30 gms. 180. 834.02.
23.31.* KYZ; A.
5.43 gms. 000.
2077.15.
23.27. tHP; B. MIB x43.
4.55 gms. 180.
670.00.
311
Type B (iii) (M); other pseudo-dates/mint marks. PS&S Class I.1; pseudo-mint marks b-d.
Year 20 (X/X). 23.36.
i. 3.92 gms. 180. 835.02.
23.32. tHñuP; ñ. 5.26 gms. 160. 475.95.
23.37. 3.89 gms. 150. 588.97.
23.33.* B. 4.35 gms. 180. 1500.10.
23.38.
å. Uncertain year. 3.08 gms. 000. 658.99.
23.34. Two standing male figures (PS&S Class II.1). uH; È. 7.87 gms. 030. Cyprus imitation; year 17 (X/u/II). 5 1540.11.
23.39.*
Vãâ; à. PS&S pl. VI, 1. 4.49 gms. 180. 1365.08. 23.35.* 4.51 gms. 030. 577.96.
312
Two standing figures; main figure in military dress PS&S Class I.2. Three standing figures; central holding a long cross (Goodwin Type C). figure in military dress holding a long cross.
Year 13 (X/III). 23.40. M between A/N/N/O and A/í/ã,
ñ beneath, COtK below. 23.44.* 4.59 gms. 090. A beneath. 1979.13. 3.68 gms. 000. 1439.09.
Year 15 (X/u).
23.41.
ã beneath.
4.27 gms. 000.
659.99.6
23.45. ñ beneath. 4.64 gms. 020. 1368.08.
23.42. K Heraclian monogram Half folles ( ); two standing figures. to right. 4.18 gms. 170. 657a.99.7
23.46.* 1.
2.88 gms. 200. 1983.13.
23.43. X/I to right, à beneath. 3.24 gms. 170. 657b.99.8 23.47. 2.12 gms. 170. 1945.13.
313
Facing bust: 645-647 (Foss; 2008). Beardless bust (Goodwin Type G).
Cyprus imitation; year 17 (X/u/II).
23.52. 3.69 gms. 000. 359r.90.
23.48.* Kñâ; à. 4.65 gms. 210. 1645.12. PS&S Class III.1b (pl. VII, 3).
M, ñ/O to right, O3O below.
PS&S Class III.1a. Obverse legend INPñR CONSt.
23.53.* 4.36 gms. 200. 1649.12.
23.49.* M between A/N and
A II ñ / / . 3.84 gms. 030. 2036.14.
23.54.
4.29 gms. 220. Other pseudo-dates and mint marks. 501.95.
23.50.* M between A/N/O and 1/I, å beneath,
KYZ below. 4.40 gms. 220. 373.91.9 23.55. 4.11 gms. 330. 1987.13.
23.51. A.
3.93 gms. 180. 1647.12.
314
PS&S Class III.
23.60. 4.53 gms. 000. 23.56. 1957.13. CON; A.
3.71 gms. 080. 1371.08.
Bearded bust (Goodwin Type H).
23.61. 3.96 gms. 140. 1988.13.
23.57.*
M, 1/II to right. 5.47 gms. 000.
2035.14.
23.62.
3.26 gms. 140. 23.58. 1937.13. M, ã beneath. 3.87 gms. 030.
359q.90.
The Imitative Coinage: 647-670 (PS&S Class IV). 23.63.
3.18 gms. 200. Imperial figure standing wearing crown with cross 760.01. and holding long cross and globus cruciger.
A/N/A N/ñ/O (or similar) around m. m; close imitations (Goodwin Type E); (Foss; 2008).
23.64.
m between A/N/N 23.59.* and A/ú/ã. 8.81 gms. 000. 2.86 gms. 150. 2067.14. 1540a.11.
315
Poor imitations (Goodwin Type E); (Foss; 2008). The Lazy S coinage.
23.65. 23.70.*
CON. m; 3/È/N/O to left. 3.88 gms. 200. 2.93 gms. 010. 1538.11. 571.96.
23.71. m between X/S and 23.66. 3.61 gms. 150. K/N/S, A beneath. 1316.07. 2.63 gms. 250. 572.96.
23.72. m between A/3 and 3/ñ/O. 23.67. D. O. (Foss) 27. 2.87 gms. 150. 4.05 gms. 110. 590.97. 1498.10.
Standing figure with M.
Close imitations (Foss; 2008). 23.68. 2.62 gms. 150.
514.95.
23.73.* M, à beneath, NIK below.
4.51 gms. 180. 498.95.
23.69.
2.14 gms. 030. 513.95.
316
Standing figure with M: Close imitations (Foss; 2008).
23.78. PS&S pl. X, 5. 2.57 gms. 180. 23.74.* 1373.08. M, 1/I to right, B beneath, KYZ below. 3.53 gms. 030. 1946.13.
23.79.
2.91 gms. 170.
1317.07.
23.75.
2.97 gms. 000. 1545.11.
Type I (circa 670); copying a Sicilian follis of Constantine IV.
Bust facing wearing cuirass and helmet with plume and holding a globus cruciger. Poor imitations (Foss; 2008). M between two figures; SCL below.
23.76.* PS&S pl. X, 5. 23.80. 5.25 gms. 200. 1372.08. D. O. 25.
2.61 gms. 180. 1559.11.10
REFERENCES AND GENERAL NOTES
23.77. Goodwin, T., Arab-Byzantine Coinage, Studies in PS&S pl. X, 5. the Khalili Collection, London, 2004. This is the 4.14 gms. 180. best introduction. It classifies the Pseudo- 1374.08. Byzantine coinage by iconographical type (Types A- I), building, perhaps, on an initial survey of the subject by Shraga Qedar in Copper Coinage of Syria in the Seventh and Eighth Century A. D., Israel Numismatic Journal, volume 10 (1988-89), pp. 27-
39. A great deal of information is also provided in
317
Pottier, Schulze and Schulze, Pseudo-Byzantine 23.10. All of the reverse is retrograde. Coinage in Syria under Arab Rule (638 - c. 670); 23.12-13. Intriguingly, there seems to be a u in classification and dating; in Revue Belge de the left hand obverse field of MIB x44 (plate 15). Numismatique, CLIV (2008), pp. 87-155; (Pottier et See also V. C. Vecchi auction no. 7 (March 1982), al., or PS&S). On some of the coins with date lot 521, for a similar coin to 23.13 on which the arrangements, see Goodwin, T., A Mint Striking same symbol is visible in the obverse left field. Early Dated (?) Arab-Byzantine Coins, Numismatic 23.15. The date arrangement is to the left of the Circular (NC) April 2011, pp. 8-12; for catalogue M and is retrograde but year 17 seems to be numbers 23.46; 23.57 and 23.74. intended. 23.20. Partly retrograde reverse. A basic chronological structure is given in Foss, C., 23.21. No obverse legend but of a good standard Arab-Byzantine Coins, An Introduction with a of manufacture. catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks collection (D. O. 23.22. The coin may be a regular class 4 follis of Byzantine Collection Publications 12), Washington Heraclius, but these are not known for regnal year DC, 2008. The classification provided by Goodwin 11 and the fabric, style and blundered lettering of has been modified slightly for the purposes of this the coin point towards a copy of some kind. There catalogue and references to Pottier et al., and Foss is probably an officina letter. are included as sub-headings where this is helpful. 23.25. Struck from the same pair of dies as MIB x43 and also 23.26-27. See also PS&S pl. IV, 7. The coin descriptions are intended to be brief with 23.30. The pseudo-mint mark is known from a die- only the salient features picked out. Mint linked coin in a private collection in the UK. It signatures, officina letters and date arrangements imitates the Class 4 folles of Heraclius with a are, in general, only reproduced in the text boxes Heraclian monogram to the left of M and ANNO where they are clearly visible, the original has above. Here, the monogram degenerates into a some claim to be meaningful, and it is realistic to series of unassociated and garbled letters. do so in terms of the limits of the available fonts. 23.31. Although the mint signature KYZ occurs anachronistically on Pseudo-Byzantine coins Type A (23.1). Goodwin describes the type (which dateable to the late 630s and 640s, this may be a copies folles of Phocas and Leontia) as extremely contemporary forgery struck soon after 630. rare and I am not sure that this specimen, which is 23.33. The obverse is quite crude. It is possible larger and heavier than is typical, and seems to be that the reverse was struck by a die made at the struck on a fresh flan, properly belongs here. It Thessalonica mint. The coin is probably non- may be a simple contemporary forgery and its regular. inclusion is mainly for the purpose of illustration. 23.35. Overstruck on a cut-down follis. The third figure is indistinct. Type B (23.2-38). Reflecting the approach in the 23.39. Pottier et al. date a small group of works cited above (which generally refer only to imitations with two standing male figures to 642- “Cyprus imitations”), the three standing figure 646. Here, the reverse is derived from a year 17 coins are sub-classified. There are those with a follis of Cyprus muled, incongruously, with a two pseudo-Cyprus mint mark and the date standing figure obverse. The coin at PS&S pl. VI, 1 arrangement for year 17 (PS&S pseudo-mint mark is struck from the same dies. A further die a); there are also coins combining both year 17 (as duplicate is described in Phillips, M. S., and well as other dates) with other forms of mint Goodwin, T., A Seventh Century Syrian Hoard of signature (pseudo-mint marks b-d). PS&S date the Byzantine and Imitative Copper Coins, Numismatic group as a whole to 638-643. Chronicle 157, 1997, pages 61-87 (C67). The obverse inscription on the hoard coin, which is a 23.2. Struck from the same dies as 23.4. There is a little better preserved, appears to read F[ ]AC in B above the denominational mark M; see PS&S part. See also: Foss pp. 22-24. plate III, no. 3. 23.44-45. Pottier et al. (p. 120) describe the Class 23.3. Much of the reverse is illegible, but the I.2 imitations of Class 6 folles of Heraclius (regnal initial letter of the mint mark, the officina letter years 30-31) as making up only a small group – five and the bottom part of the date are all clear. The are listed in their paper. The reverse of the second centre figure is heavily bearded. The coin is of coin is muddled – the lower digit may simply be a crude manufacture. poorly engraved pellet - but the obverse could 23.5. Struck from the same dies as 23.11. pass as regular. 23.8. It is possible that there are traces of a date 23.46. A better preserved specimen, almost arrangement in the obverse left field. certainly from the same hand (Penn collection),
318 has the date arrangement II and officina letter B. Goodwin, Early Dated Coins (op. cit.). 1 Baldwins, January 1999. 2 Originally lot 479 in V. C. Vecchi auction no. 2. Types G and H (23.48-58). 3 Lanz Numismatik, January 2012. 4 Hoard A, Numismatic Chronicle 2013, no. 234. 23.48. The facing bust type with X/u/II is rare. 5 W. Leimonstoll, May 2011. 23.50. Goodwin, Early Dated Arab-Byzantine Coins 6 Ex Goodwin collection. (op. cit.). One of several coins known with a 7 Ex Goodwin collection. redundant mint mark (Cyzicus here), and, in some 8 Ex Goodwin collection. cases, a date arrangement including the symbol 1 9 The gift of Andreas Sommer, January 1991. (retrograde in this case); see 23.73-74. 10 Sayles and Lavender, August 2011. 23.53. This and the next two coins are die-linked by reverse to PS&S Class III.1b (pl. VII, 3) and to 23.76-78. 23.57. C/O/T in obverse left field. Goodwin, Early Dated Arab-Byzantine Coins, 2-10.
Type E (23.59-80). This is an extremely large group of imitatives – Pottier et al. examined over 1,000 specimens. There is often an obverse legend - ñN TÕT ONIKA, normally badly blundered. The reverses copy the early issues of Constans II although the lettering varies widely, for example ú is often found. Only the salient features are described in the text boxes.
23.59. There is a large star that obscures the reverse legend at bottom right. It is presumably part of an undertype which, in view of the high weight, could be a cut down sixth century follis.
The Lazy S coinage (Foss; pp. 31-32).
These three coins (23.70-72) are characterised by a leaning S – presumably meant to be the last letter of the A/N/A N/ñ/O/S legend - that is placed below the exergual line. Of the three coins, only 23.72 belongs with certainty, although the others may be associated with it. On 23.72, the Emperor’s left arm appears to be held at his sword hilt, although it may simply be the standard long cross and globus cruciger type. 23.70. Possibly A below.
23.73-74. Goodwin, Early Dated Arab-Byzantine Coins. I suspect that 23.73 is dated – but with the date arrangement off-flan. 23.76-78. Struck from the same dies. Die-linked by reverse to 23.53-55.
Type I (23.80). See Oddy, W. A., Constantine IV as a Prototype for Early Islamic Coins, Coinage and History in the Seventh Century Near East 2, pp. 95- 110, London, 2010.
319