We have made every effort to describe each coin as clearly as possible, with inscriptions provided as we have read them from the coins. Unfortunately, the medieval letter forms, and often less-than-perfect strikes, can make the coins difficult to read and we may occasionally get a letter or two wrong. Please feel free to contact us if you notice any such mistakes.

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

In reality, there was no such thing as a Byzantine Empire. This is a 17th-century term for an empire that considered itself the eastern Roman Empire right up to its fall in AD 1454. Modern historians normally refer to it as the Byzantine Empire but there is confusion as to where the boundary between the Byzantine and Roman Empires should be placed. For numismatic purposes the best-fit boundary seems to be Anastasius' bronze coinage reform in about AD 496. Collectors of Roman coins consider Anastasius to be the last Roman Emperor, while collectors of Byzantine coins think of him the first Byzantine Emperor. He certainly thought of himself as the Emperor of Rome, as did each Byzantine emperor for almost the next thousand years.

HERACLIUS, AD 610-641

CONSTANS II, AD 641-668

ALEXIUS I, AD 1081-1118

ISAAC II, AD 1185-1195

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