Recently I have been reading up on the coinage of
Leo VI. Unfortunately there are
still many unanswered questions about Leo's coinage. For example, why is the gold so
rare when
gold coins of
his immediate predecessor (
Basil I) and successor (
Constantine VII) are so common? This is hard to explain given that
his reign lasted more than 25 years. Also hard to explain considering
his strained relationship with
Basil I. And why are the solidi depicting
Leo VI and
Constantine VII, which were presumably struck only after
Constantine VII became co-emperor in 908, so much more common (though
still rare) than the coins depicting
Leo VI alone (with the long beard)?
My theory, which I have not heard anyone suggest before, was that Leo's policies effectively pulled in all the gold from circulation and somehow incentivized people to hold bronze instead. It can be no accident that Leo's gold is so
rare, but the bronze is so common. In fact,
Sear even suggested that the
Leo VI follis may be the most common of all
Byzantine bronze coins. Leo's bronze is far more common than Basil's. And though much bronze was struck under
Constantine VII, most of this seems to have come later in the reign. So I think the scarcity of the gold must be explained in
part by the
abundance of the bronze, but I have not seen anyone develop this theory before.
As evidence that gold ceased to circulate, consider that most
Basil I solidi are in quite
good condition, showing minimal wear. If Leo
had simply suspended new minting while the old coinage continued to circulate, more
Basil I solidi would show considerably more wear.
I want to study this in more depth, but the primary references are quite superficial . . .
As
part of my study into Leo's
gold coinage, I have started my own personal die study to see how many die links I can find in S. 1725. I found one curious and ghastly finding yesterday when comparing the following
obverse die matches. Here is a cringe-worthy example of a poorly
tooled gold coin. Can you spot it? Note that only the faces are
tooled, and on both sides . . .