Byzantine coinage

Anastasius 40 nummi and 5 nummi

Byzantine currency, the money that was use in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of two main types: the gold solidus and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins.

The monetary reform of Anastasius in 498 AD reformed the late Roman Empire coinage system which consisted of the gold solidus and the bronze nummi. The nummi was an extremely small bronze coin (about 8-10mm), which were inconvient because a large number of them were required even for small transactions. The new bronze coins were made up of the 40 nummi, 20 nummi, 10 nummi, and 5 nummi coins (other denominations were occasionally produced). The obverse (front) of these coins featured a highly stylized portrait of the emperor while the reverse (back) reverse featured the value of the denomination represented according to the Greek numbering system (M=40,K=20,I=10,E=5). Silver coins were rare.

The Byzantine monetary system changed during the 7th century when the 40 nummi (also known as the follis) was the only bronze coin issued and the coin was much smaller than earlier issues.

Later Byzantine issued concave (cup-shaped) coins in both electrum (debased gold) and billon (debased silver).

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