The Byzantine Empire
Some date the beginnings of the Byzantine Empire in 476 A.D. after the Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus, who was traditionally considered the last Western Emperor. The Empire is generally considered to have ended after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 A.D. Byzantium is the historiographical term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered in its capital of Constantinople. It is also known as the Eastern Roman Empire.
We offer several
varieties of sterling silver pendants featuring Byzantine
coins. Our most popular model is features the M coin, it has four
prongs holding the coin in place within a silver bezel. Both sides of
the coin can clearly be seen, and technically it could be worn with
either the reverse or the obverse showing, although the demonination
and the portrait face different directions.
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| "I" coin-obverse |
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| Jesus Christ-King of Kings |
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| anonymous period |
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| "M" coin-40 nummi |
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| To the right, you can see some examples of Byzantine coinage. One is
the M coin, a large bronze piece. The "M" refers to the denomination
40 nummi. We also carry the "K" coin, smaller than the M in size and
denomination. The K coin had a value of 20 nummi. There was also a coin with an I with a value of 10 and a coin with an E with a value of 5.
The obverse of the coins generally had a portrait of the emperor and emperess in full frontal portrait. This is a departure from the Imperial Roman issues coins where the emperors were depicted in profile. Another thing that makes the Byzantine coins distinctive is the coins, along with denominations, featured the reginal year of the emperor.
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| "K" coin-20 nummi |
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| "I" coin-10 nummi |
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