Basil I and Constantine. 868-879 AD. Constantinople Mint, Byzantine Empire. AR Miliaresion. 24mm 3.33g.

$500.00

Type : Miliaresion

Date: 868-879

Mint name / Town : Constantinople

Metal : silver

Millesimal fineness : 1.000 ‰

Diameter : 24 mm

Orientation dies : 1 h.

Weight : 3,33 g.

Rarity : R1

COMENTS ON THE CONDITION:

Coin on an ideally centered blank, slightly veiled. Superb backhand, strike. Gray patina

CATALOGUE REFERENCES :

BMC/B.6 - R.1860 - Do.7 - BN/B.1 - BC.1708 (110£) - DMBR.33 /4 (500€)

OBVERSE

Obverse legend : + IHSYS XRI-STYS NICA.

Obverse description : Potent cross placed on three levels, placed on a globule; all in a double circular graining.

Obverse translation : (Jesus Christ Victorius).

REVERSE

Reverse legend : +BASI/LIOS CE/ CONSTAN/TIN PISTV/ BASILIS/ ROMEO’.

Reverse description : Caption in six lines in a double circular graining.

Reverse translation : (Basil and Constantine kings of the Romans).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

BASIL I and CONSTANTINE

(10/02/868-3/09/879)

Basil is associated with the throne from May 26 866 by Michael III the Drunkard and became sole emperor after the murder. He reigns only one year, and associates to the throne in 868 his favorite son Constantine, who died in 879. Under the reign of Basil I, Syracuse fell to Islam and in 878, Sicily is permanently lost. The reign of Basil was a period of consolidation. The Emperor summoned all the legal works of Justinian best known as the Basilica. Basil died in a hunting accident.

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Type : Miliaresion

Date: 868-879

Mint name / Town : Constantinople

Metal : silver

Millesimal fineness : 1.000 ‰

Diameter : 24 mm

Orientation dies : 1 h.

Weight : 3,33 g.

Rarity : R1

COMENTS ON THE CONDITION:

Coin on an ideally centered blank, slightly veiled. Superb backhand, strike. Gray patina

CATALOGUE REFERENCES :

BMC/B.6 - R.1860 - Do.7 - BN/B.1 - BC.1708 (110£) - DMBR.33 /4 (500€)

OBVERSE

Obverse legend : + IHSYS XRI-STYS NICA.

Obverse description : Potent cross placed on three levels, placed on a globule; all in a double circular graining.

Obverse translation : (Jesus Christ Victorius).

REVERSE

Reverse legend : +BASI/LIOS CE/ CONSTAN/TIN PISTV/ BASILIS/ ROMEO’.

Reverse description : Caption in six lines in a double circular graining.

Reverse translation : (Basil and Constantine kings of the Romans).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

BASIL I and CONSTANTINE

(10/02/868-3/09/879)

Type : Miliaresion

Date: 868-879

Mint name / Town : Constantinople

Metal : silver

Millesimal fineness : 1.000 ‰

Diameter : 24 mm

Orientation dies : 1 h.

Weight : 3,33 g.

Rarity : R1

COMENTS ON THE CONDITION:

Coin on an ideally centered blank, slightly veiled. Superb backhand, strike. Gray patina

CATALOGUE REFERENCES :

BMC/B.6 - R.1860 - Do.7 - BN/B.1 - BC.1708 (110£) - DMBR.33 /4 (500€)

OBVERSE

Obverse legend : + IHSYS XRI-STYS NICA.

Obverse description : Potent cross placed on three levels, placed on a globule; all in a double circular graining.

Obverse translation : (Jesus Christ Victorius).

REVERSE

Reverse legend : +BASI/LIOS CE/ CONSTAN/TIN PISTV/ BASILIS/ ROMEO’.

Reverse description : Caption in six lines in a double circular graining.

Reverse translation : (Basil and Constantine kings of the Romans).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

BASIL I and CONSTANTINE

(10/02/868-3/09/879)

Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian" (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, translit. Basíleios ō Makedṓn; 811 – 29 August 886), was Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886. Born to a peasant family in Macedonia, he rose to prominence in the imperial court after gaining the favour of Emperor Michael III, whose mistress he married on his emperor's orders. In 866, Michael proclaimed him co-emperor. Fearing a loss of influence, Basil orchestrated Michael's assassination the next year and installed himself as sole ruler of the empire. He was the first ruler of the Macedonian dynasty.

Despite his humble origins, Basil was an effective and respected monarch. He initiated a complete overhaul of Byzantine law, an effort continued by his successor that ultimately became the Basilika. On the foreign front, he achieved military success against the heretical Paulicians, whom he subjugated in 872. He also pursued an active policy in the west, allying with Carolingian emperor Louis II against the Arabs, which led to a new period of Byzantine domination in Italy. Upon his death in a hunting accident in 886, he was succeeded by his son Leo VI, also rumoured to have been the son of Michael III.