Byzentine Coinage: Justin II to Phocas

Research project P 14502 Byzantine Coinage: Justin II to Phocas Wolfgang HAHN 09.10.2000 The 2nd volume of the reference work "Moneta imperii Byzantuini" (MIB, an analysis of the Byzantine coinage system based on synoptical representation, published in 1975 as the result of an earlier FWF-project) shall be prepared for a new edition in English, refurbished in the same manner as the 1st volume in the course of the preceding project. Now the period of 565-610 is covered, i.e. the reign of the four emperors Justin II, Tiberius II, Maurice and Phocas, including the revolt of Herclius. Within the last 25 years a large stock of additional material became known, mainly in internation trade, which has to be critically viewed and taken into account. In the case of hitherto uncertain mint attributions, datings or metrological questions new evidence can strenghten or modify the older hypotheses, due to increased frequency tables and their comparision. The use of computers was successfully applied in several ways during the previous work on the 1st volume and led to new forms of documentation of the material: in the publication the synoptical charts of the issues can be improved and an interactive program on, CD faciliates the identification of the coins. The future research based on Byzantine numismatics shall be able to rely on a much more precise registration of the material.

The project aimed at the preparation of a new edition of the 2nd volume of the reference work on Byzantine coins, Moneta imperii Byzantini (MIB, an analysis of the system based on synoptical representation) in an English version and covering the time 565-610, i. e. the reign of the emperors Justin II, Tiberius II, Maurice, Phocas and the revolt of Heraclius. Originally it was published in German language in 1975 as a result of an earlier FWF- project. The new project followed the precedents of the refurbished 1st volume on the period 491-565 which was successfully published in 2000. During the last 30 years a large stock of additional material emerged, mainly in international coin trade, especially via internet. Its registration and critical reviewing has assembled a large body of documentation and brought much new evidence clarifying problematic questions of metrology and mint attributions. As in the case of the 1st volume the use of computers has proved indispensible for the new forms of representing the material: the publication of the synoptical charts of the issues could be prepared by electronic composition and an interactive programm on CD was produced which faciliates the identification of the different issues. Thus the access to the Byzantine coins as a source material is broadened for numismatists as well the neighbouring disciplines, especially historians and archaeologists, who obtain a tool for exact attributions and the means of reliable information.