A Unique Byzantine Coin Die of Justin I
Published in Minerva XII,5 September 2001

CNG 105, Lot: 1029. Estimate $10000. Sold for $15000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Justin I. 518-527. Iron Die for an Æ Follis Reverse. Average dimensions: overall length, 88mm; diameter, 35mm at die face, widening to 40 mm at the center, and tapering to 33mm at striking face. Of octagonal form. Weight: 790 gm. Reverse of a third officina Nicomedia mint follis of Justin I: Large M, cross above; star to either side; Γ//NIKM (SB 83). M.D. O'Hara, “A Unique Byzantine Coin Die of Justin I (AD 518-27),” Minerva XII/5 (September/October 2001), p. 54 (this die). As made, shank rusted and pitted. The only extant Byzantine coin die known.

Ex Triton V (16 January 2002), lot 2253.

The only officina letters recorded in the various national collections and in the standard works for this variety with NIKM are A, B, Δ and Є, the first, second, fourth and fifth workshops ­ the third workshop represented by the letter Γ has so far only been noted for this variety with NIKOM (SB 83B). This may go some way to suggesting that some event, administrative or otherwise, could account for the fact that this die somehow escaped destruction.

Iron dies are by their very nature a rare and valuable commodity and, in most cases, they would have been melted down and reused. There are only about a hundred Roman dies extant, mainly of the first century (bronze or iron). For the one thousand years of the Byzantine Empire this is the first and only die to have come to light (there are, however, rare tongs known for making lead seals but no actual coin dies). This spectacular discovery of a very large early Byzantine coin-die is of major numismatic importance and of the highest rarity, and it is of the greatest interest since it allows an unprecedented glimpse behind the scenes of coin production.