Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Anastasius, 11th April 491 – 1st July 518.
Multiple or medaillion of 1½ Solidi, Constantinople circa 491-518, AV 6.75 g. D N ANA[ST]A – SIVS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Obv. ADVENTVS – RON AVG Emperor nimbed riding horse l., raised his r. hands; in l. field, star. In exergue, CONOB. DO –. MIBE –. Sear –. For similar type, cf. RIC 501 (Marcian) and cf. Chaponnière & Firmenich sale 15, 2022, 68 (Theodosius II).
Apparently unique and unrecorded A fascinating issue of great historical importance.
Several marks and a metal flow on both obverse and reverse and a
slightly waivy flan, otherwise about extremely fine
In AD 491 the controversial Isaurian Emperor Zeno died and his wife Ariadne was left with the difficult task of finding an acceptable successor. Zeno's brother Longinus was an obvious choice, but Ariadne instead settled on a 60-year-old senior official named Anastasius to take up the mantle of Emperor, perhaps with the hope that his accession would break the political influence of the Isaurians and the circus factions. Anastasius assumed the throne on 11 April 491 and married Ariadne shortly thereafter, on 20 May. Although the Isaurians and the circus factions that had been previously patronized by Longinus rioted in response to the accession of Anastasius, he came to win popular support through his reform of the tax system. This included the abolition of the hated tax on receipts, which was commonly levied on the poor of the Empire. Nevertheless, the disgruntled Longinus returned to Isauria in 492 and raised his kinsmen in revolt against the new Emperor. The revolt was largely crushed by imperial forces led by the future Emperor Justin I at the battle of Cotyaeum in the same year, but a vicious guerilla war dragged on in the mountains of Isauria until 497. Once the will to fight on was broken, Anastasius arranged for large numbers of Isaurians to be removed to Thrace so that they would never again pose a menace to the Empire in their mountainous homeland. Shortly after the settlement of his Isaurian problems, almost a century of peace between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Persian Empire was shattered when Anastasius refused to provide financial assistance to the beleaguered Persian king Kavad I. Faced with famines and floods, and a desperate need for cash to pay the Hephthalite mercenaries who had helped him regain his throne, Kavad decided that if Anastasius would not give him the money, he would invade the Roman Empire and take it by force. Thus, between 502 and 506 the so-called Anastasian War was fought by the two rulers. The Persians captured the cities of Theodosiopolis and Amida, but the generals of Anastasius had difficulty driving them back. At last, in 506 Anastasius I and Kavad I agreed to peace. They were partially encouraged to do so due to the growing threat of the Huns in the East and the Slavs and Bulgars in the north. The menace of the Slavs and Bulgars caused the Emperor to erect the massive Anastasian Wall to protect Constantinople. From the numismatic perspective, the reign of Anastasius marks the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine Empire. In c. 498, he abolished the old systems of debased late Roman coins and established a new system of bronze coins based on multiples of the nummus (especially the follis of 40 nummi) that had values tied to the gold solidus. The present gold medallion of 1 ½ solidi is one such coin to which the values of the Anastasian bronze coinage was linked. It is a remarkable and apparently unique piece that celebrates the return of Anastasius I to Constantinople after travelling abroad. Unfortunately, the medallion does not include any features that might allow for precise dating, although a return from making peace with Kavad I might be a tempting speculation. The emperor is shown nimbate on horseback raising his hand in greeting. The type seems to have been inherited by Anastasius from extremely rare medallions of the same denomination produced by his imperial predecessors Marcian and Theodosius II. However, on these earlier issues the reverse legend appears as ADVENTVS S D N AVG, which should (presumably) be expanded as ADVENTVS S(acri) D(omini) N(ostri) AVG(usti) and translated as "Arrival of Our Holy Lord Augustus." On the medallion of Anastasius this same legend seems to appear as ADVENTVS R O N AVG. Apparently an engraver's error has made the expected S before D N into an R and the D in D N has been misunderstood as an O. All of this suggests that the Anastasian engraver may have been copying the type and legend from one of the earlier medallions.
Multiple or medaillion of 1½ Solidi, Constantinople circa 491-518, AV 6.75 g. D N ANA[ST]A – SIVS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Obv. ADVENTVS – RON AVG Emperor nimbed riding horse l., raised his r. hands; in l. field, star. In exergue, CONOB. DO –. MIBE –. Sear –. For similar type, cf. RIC 501 (Marcian) and cf. Chaponnière & Firmenich sale 15, 2022, 68 (Theodosius II).
Apparently unique and unrecorded A fascinating issue of great historical importance.
Several marks and a metal flow on both obverse and reverse and a
slightly waivy flan, otherwise about extremely fine
In AD 491 the controversial Isaurian Emperor Zeno died and his wife Ariadne was left with the difficult task of finding an acceptable successor. Zeno's brother Longinus was an obvious choice, but Ariadne instead settled on a 60-year-old senior official named Anastasius to take up the mantle of Emperor, perhaps with the hope that his accession would break the political influence of the Isaurians and the circus factions. Anastasius assumed the throne on 11 April 491 and married Ariadne shortly thereafter, on 20 May. Although the Isaurians and the circus factions that had been previously patronized by Longinus rioted in response to the accession of Anastasius, he came to win popular support through his reform of the tax system. This included the abolition of the hated tax on receipts, which was commonly levied on the poor of the Empire. Nevertheless, the disgruntled Longinus returned to Isauria in 492 and raised his kinsmen in revolt against the new Emperor. The revolt was largely crushed by imperial forces led by the future Emperor Justin I at the battle of Cotyaeum in the same year, but a vicious guerilla war dragged on in the mountains of Isauria until 497. Once the will to fight on was broken, Anastasius arranged for large numbers of Isaurians to be removed to Thrace so that they would never again pose a menace to the Empire in their mountainous homeland. Shortly after the settlement of his Isaurian problems, almost a century of peace between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Persian Empire was shattered when Anastasius refused to provide financial assistance to the beleaguered Persian king Kavad I. Faced with famines and floods, and a desperate need for cash to pay the Hephthalite mercenaries who had helped him regain his throne, Kavad decided that if Anastasius would not give him the money, he would invade the Roman Empire and take it by force. Thus, between 502 and 506 the so-called Anastasian War was fought by the two rulers. The Persians captured the cities of Theodosiopolis and Amida, but the generals of Anastasius had difficulty driving them back. At last, in 506 Anastasius I and Kavad I agreed to peace. They were partially encouraged to do so due to the growing threat of the Huns in the East and the Slavs and Bulgars in the north. The menace of the Slavs and Bulgars caused the Emperor to erect the massive Anastasian Wall to protect Constantinople. From the numismatic perspective, the reign of Anastasius marks the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine Empire. In c. 498, he abolished the old systems of debased late Roman coins and established a new system of bronze coins based on multiples of the nummus (especially the follis of 40 nummi) that had values tied to the gold solidus. The present gold medallion of 1 ½ solidi is one such coin to which the values of the Anastasian bronze coinage was linked. It is a remarkable and apparently unique piece that celebrates the return of Anastasius I to Constantinople after travelling abroad. Unfortunately, the medallion does not include any features that might allow for precise dating, although a return from making peace with Kavad I might be a tempting speculation. The emperor is shown nimbate on horseback raising his hand in greeting. The type seems to have been inherited by Anastasius from extremely rare medallions of the same denomination produced by his imperial predecessors Marcian and Theodosius II. However, on these earlier issues the reverse legend appears as ADVENTVS S D N AVG, which should (presumably) be expanded as ADVENTVS S(acri) D(omini) N(ostri) AVG(usti) and translated as "Arrival of Our Holy Lord Augustus." On the medallion of Anastasius this same legend seems to appear as ADVENTVS R O N AVG. Apparently an engraver's error has made the expected S before D N into an R and the D in D N has been misunderstood as an O. All of this suggests that the Anastasian engraver may have been copying the type and legend from one of the earlier medallions.