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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Byzantine Coins| ▸ |Byzantine Mints| ▸ |Alexandria||View Options:  |  |  |   

Byzantine Alexandria (c. 525 - 646)

The long closed mint at Alexandria reopened during the reign of Justin I. The great metropolis was lost to the Arabs in 646 and was never recovered by the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine Empire, Justin II, 15 November 565 - 5 October 578 A.D.

|Justin| |II|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Justin| |II,| |15| |November| |565| |-| |5| |October| |578| |A.D.||solidus|
Justin was unable to hold the territory Justinian had restored. Most of Italy and parts of Spain were quickly lost to the Lombards and Visigoths. Refusal to pay tribute to the Sassanids, resulted in protracted war. The burdens of office drove him insane and his successor was regent for the last four years of his reign.
SH90893. Gold solidus, Hahn MIB II 14 (Alexandria), SBCV 347A (Constantinople, but Alexandria noted as a possibility), Berk 63, DOC I -, aEF, small marks and scratches, weight 4.473 g, maximum diameter 20.6 mm, die axis 180o, Alexandria mint, c. 567 - 578 A.D.; obverse D N I-VSTI-NVS P P AVG, facing helmeted and cuirassed bust, Victory on globe in right, shield on left arm; reverse VICTORI-A AVCCC I, Constantinopolis enthroned facing, head right, long scepter in right hand, globus cruciger in left hand, staurogram left, •CONOB• in exergue; ex Heritage auction 3020 (6 Sep 2012), lot 25312; ex Nudelman Numismatica 10 (13 Jun 2011), lot 53; very rare; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Justinian I, 4 April 527 - 14 November 565 A.D.

|Justinian| |I|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Justinian| |I,| |4| |April| |527| |-| |14| |November| |565| |A.D.||six| |nummi|
In 535 - 536 A.D., the world experienced the most severe and protracted short-term cooling episode in the last 2,000 years. The cooling is thought to have been caused by an extensive atmospheric dust veil, possibly resulting from a large volcanic eruption in the tropics, or debris from space impacting the Earth. Its effects were widespread, causing unseasonable weather, crop failures, and famines worldwide. The Byzantine historian Procopius recorded of 536, in his report on the wars with the Vandals, "during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness...and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear." Crop failures were recorded in some areas until 539.
BZ72158. Bronze six nummi, DOC I 275, Wroth BMC 347 - 348, Morrisson BnF I 20 - 22, Tolstoi 504 - 506, Sommer 4.116, Hahn MIB I 166, Berk 260, SBCV 248, Ratto 694, VF, nice for the type, weight 3.030 g, maximum diameter 15.4 mm, die axis 180o, Alexandria mint, obverse D N IVSTINI-ANVS P P AVG, diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right; reverse large S; first example of this type handled by Forum!; rare; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Justin I, 10 July 518 - 1 August 527 A.D.

|Justin| |I|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Justin| |I,| |10| |July| |518| |-| |1| |August| |527| |A.D.||12| |nummi|
Alexandria was founded c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained the capital of Hellenistic, Roman and then Byzantine Egypt for almost one thousand years until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in A.D. 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat (later absorbed into Cairo).
BZ39439. Bronze 12 nummi, DOC I 58; Ratto 435; Morrisson BnF p. 50; Hahn MIB 68; SBCV 112; Wroth BMC -; Tolstoi -, VF, weight 4.503 g, maximum diameter 16.5 mm, die axis 180o, Egypt, Alexandria mint, 518 - 527; obverse D N IVSTINVS P P AV, diademed and draped bust right; reverse large I B (12 nummi) with cross between, AΛEZ (Alexandria) in exergue; rare; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Heraclius, 5 October 610 - 11 January 641 A.D.

|Heraclius|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Heraclius,| |5| |October| |610| |-| |11| |January| |641| |A.D.||six| |nummi|
Heraclius' cousin and local governor, Nicetas, was unable to effectively resist when the Sassanid Persian shah, Khusro II, invaded Egypt in 617 or 618. He and the Chalcedonian patriarch, John V, fled from Alexandria to Cyprus. After the fall of Alexandria, the Persians extended their rule southwards along the Nile and by 621 the province was securely in Persian hands. After Heraclius decisively defeated Khusro in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh, Shahrbaraz was ordered to evacuate the Egypt, but he refused. Heraclius, trying both to recover Egypt and to sow disunion amongst the Persians, offered to help Shahrbaraz seize the Persian throne for himself. An agreement was reached, and in the summer of 629, the Persian troops began leaving Egypt.
BZ39442. Bronze six nummi, DOC II-1 198, Wroth BMC 309, Morrisson BnF 10/Al/AE/69, Ratto 1326, Tolstoi 118, Hahn MIB 210, Sommer 11.98, SBCV 862, gVF, weight 2.373 g, maximum diameter 15.3 mm, Alexandria mint, 613 - 618 A.D.; obverse dd m hERACLS (or similar, blundered), cross potent on two steps; reverse large S; SOLD


Sasanian Empire, Khusro II, Occupation of Egypt, 618 - 628 A.D.

|Sasanian| |Empire|, |Sasanian| |Empire,| |Khusro| |II,| |Occupation| |of| |Egypt,| |618| |-| |628| |A.D.||12| |nummi|
During his temporary domination of Egypt, 618 - 628 A.D., Khusru allowed the Alexandria mint to continue issuing the normal Byzantine coinage, but substituted his portrait for the Byzantine emperor's. The sun and moon replaced the obverse legend, just as on contemporary Sasanian coinage. It may seem strange that a Persian king would wear a crown surmounted by a cross; however, his wife Sira was a Christian, he was a benefactor of the church of St. Sergius in Edessa, he honored the Virgin, and he sometimes wore a robe embroidered with a cross which he had received as a gift from the Emperor Maurice Tiberius. The Byzantine emperors resumed the imperial coinage of Alexandria after their recapture of Egypt in 628 A.D.
WA77071. Bronze 12 nummi, DOC II-1 191; Hahn MIB 202b; Wroth BMC 277; Tolstoi 109; Ratto 1316; Morrisson BnF 10/Al/AE/32; SBCV 855; Sommer 11.92, aVF, as-found slightly rough near black patina, well centered, weight 10.428 g, maximum diameter 18.2 mm, die axis 180o, Alexandria mint, 618 - 628 A.D.; obverse bust of the Sassanid King Khusru II wearing a crown with pendilia and surmounted by a cross, star left, crescent moon right; reverse large I B with cross potent on globe between, AΛEZ in exergue; from The Jimi Berlin Caesarea Collection (surface find, Caesarea, Israel); SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Heraclius & Heraclius Constantine, 23 January 613 - 11 January 641 A.D.

|Heraclius|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Heraclius| |&| |Heraclius| |Constantine,| |23| |January| |613| |-| |11| |January| |641| |A.D.||12| |nummi|
The Byzantine-Sassanid War ended with a Byzantine victory in 628, but the war, after a century of nearly continuous conflict, left both empires crippled. The Persians suffering economic decline, heavy taxation, religious unrest, dynastic turmoil and other social problems, plunged into civil war. The Byzantines had exhausted their treasure, the Balkans had been largely lost to the Slavs, and Anatolia was devastated. Neither empire was given any chance to recover, as within a few years they were struck by the onslaught of the Arabs, newly united by Islam. The Sassanid Empire would soon be completely destroyed. The Muslim conquest of Syria, Egypt and North Africa, would reduce the Byzantine Empire to a territorial rump consisting of Anatolia and a scatter of islands and footholds in the Balkans and Italy.
BZ39472. Bronze 12 nummi, DOC II-1 189; Wroth BMC 289, Tolstoi 308; Ratto 1445; Morrisson BnF 10/A1/AE/01; Hahn MIB 200a; SBCV 853; Sommer 11.91, gVF, weight 5.187 g, maximum diameter 17.8 mm, die axis 45o, Egypt, Alexandria mint, c. 613 - 618 A.D.; obverse dd NN h hERAC (blundered), facing busts of Heraclius and his son Heraclius Constantine; reverse large IB (12 nummi) divided by cross potent on two steps, AΛEZ (Alexandria) in exergue; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Constans II, September 641 - 15 July 668 A.D.

|Constans| |II|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Constans| |II,| |September| |641| |-| |15| |July| |668| |A.D.||12| |nummi|
On 8 November 641, after a fourteen month siege, Alexandria capitulated to the Arab Muslims. In late 645 the Byzantines recaptured Alexandria but lost it again in May 646. This coin may have been struck either during the siege or during the short lived recovery. The last Byzantine attempt to recover Alexandria failed in 654.
BZ94899. Bronze 12 nummi, DOC II-2 105; Morrisson BnF p. 350, 13/Al/AE/01; Hahn MIB 189; Ratto 1321 (Heraclius); SBCV 1027; Sommer 12.63; Wroth BMC -; Tolstoi -, F, thick earthen deposits, weight 7.962 g, maximum diameter 22.2 mm, die axis 180o, Alexandria mint, Sep - Nov 641 and/or late 645 - May 646; obverse Constans II standing facing, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, long cross in left hand, globus cruciger in right hand, no legend; reverse large I-B (12 nummi), divided by cross potent on globe, pellet outer right and outer left, AΛEZ (Alexandria) in exergue; from the Ray Nouri Collection; rare; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Constans II, September 641 - 15 July 668 A.D.

|Constans| |II|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Constans| |II,| |September| |641| |-| |15| |July| |668| |A.D.||12| |nummi|
On 8 November 641, after a fourteen month siege, Alexandria capitulated to the Arab Muslims. In late 645 the Byzantines recaptured Alexandria but lost it again in May 646. This coin may have been struck either during the siege or during the short lived recovery. The last Byzantine attempt to recover Alexandria failed in 654.
BZ94898. Bronze 12 nummi, DOC II-2 105; Morrisson BnF p. 350, 13/Al/AE/01; Hahn MIB 189; Ratto 1321 (Heraclius); SBCV 1027; Sommer 12.63; Wroth BMC -; Tolstoi -, gF, earthen deposits, overstruck, weight 7.571 g, maximum diameter 20.8 mm, die axis 180o, Alexandria mint, Sep - Nov 641 and/or late 645 - May 646; obverse Constans II standing facing, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, long cross in left hand, globus cruciger in right hand, no legend; reverse large I-B (12 nummi), divided by cross potent on globe, pellet outer right and outer left, AΛEZ (Alexandria) in exergue; from the Ray Nouri Collection; rare; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Justin II, 15 November 565 - 5 October 578 A.D.

|Justin| |II|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Justin| |II,| |15| |November| |565| |-| |5| |October| |578| |A.D.||12| |nummi|
Separating the Alexandrian 12 nummi of Justin I and II is the Byzantine equivalent of trying to make sense of certain Roman provincial coin issues of Caracalla and his numismatic twin Elagabalus! This is compounded by the fact that some numismatists, such as Warwick Wroth, didn't believe Alexandria issued coinage under the Byzantine Empire until Justinian (whose Alexandrian 12 nummi can also be tricky to recognize, without a clear legend). And when the two issues are properly cataloged in an authoritative reference, both of the descriptions given are virtually the same aside from the addition of a cuirass for Justin II. This is really a subjective detail, given the large quantities of imitations (including possibly the present coin) that often blur the lines (quite literally) between a draped bust and one that is also armored, not to mention the direction it is facing. Thankfully, the authors of MIBEC have sought to help clear up this identity crisis with a surprisingly simple observation: "[The 12-nummi piece of Justin II] differs from the coins of Justin I (MIB 68) by the position of the cross between the value numerals on the reverse where it has moved from above to the middle." This gradual migration (or crossing!) occurred during the reign of Justinian. It should also be pointed out that, compared to the Justin II issue, the one for the earlier Justin is most likely very rare in addition to its distinctive, finer style, if we use DOC 58 as an example.
BZ114641. Bronze 12 nummi, cf. MIBEC 67 & X8 (bust style), DOC I 188 (same), Morrisson BnF 1 ff. (same?), Wroth BMC 241-242 (same?), Sommer 5.50 (same; obv. leg.), aVF, clay-rich deposits, tight flan, remnants of casting sprue, some chipping on portrait, good detail for possible imitative issue, weight 2.467 g, maximum diameter 14.8 mm, die axis 180o, Egypt, Alexandria or irregular mint, c. 565 - 578 A.D.; obverse D N IVSTI-NVS P P AV (or similar, D blundered), diademed, draped, and cuirassed(?) bust facing with head right; reverse large I B (12 nummi) with cross between on line, AΛEΞ (Alexandria) in exergue; ex Sol Numismatik auction XX (11 Nov 2023), lot 708; SOLD


Byzantine Empire, Heraclius, 5 October 610 - 11 January 641 A.D.

|Heraclius|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Heraclius,| |5| |October| |610| |-| |11| |January| |641| |A.D.||six| |nummi|
In 618, a Persian expeditionary force under Shahrbaraz invaded Egypt and after defeating the Byzantine garrisons in the Nile Valley, occupied the province, marched across the Libyan Desert as far as Cyrene and besieged Alexandria. The defence of the city was led by Nicetas, a cousin of emperor Heraclius. Alexandria fell to the Persians in 619. Nicetas and the Chalcedonian patriarch, John V, fled to Cyprus.
BZ90140. Bronze six nummi, DOC II-1 198, Wroth BMC 309, Morrisson BnF 10/Al/AE/69, Ratto 1326, Tolstoi 118, Hahn MIB 210, Sommer 11.98, SBCV 862, VF, a little rough, weight 1.850 g, maximum diameter 10.9 mm, die axis 225o, Alexandria mint, 613 - 618 A.D.; obverse dd m hERACUCI (or similar, blundered), cross potent on two steps; reverse large S; ex CNG auction 233 (26 May 2010), lot 552, ex Peter Lee Collection; SOLD




  




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