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20 Nummi - Justinian I Carthage, S, Bust Facing
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 539-543 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 28 mm |
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| Obverse description | Facing helmeted and cuirassed bust of Emperor Justinian I, depicted in a frontal military effigy characteristic of Byzantine imperial coinage. The emperor holds a globus cruciger in his right hand, symbolizing Christian dominion over the world, while his left arm supports a large decorated shield. A cross appears in the right field. The surrounding Latin legend identifies the emperor as perpetual augustus. The style reflects the bold, schematic portraiture typical of Carthaginian mint production under Justinian. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Carthage returned to imperial hands in 533 when Belisarius defeated the Vandal king Gelimer in a campaign of remarkable speed — the entire reconquest took under a year. Mint operations at Carthage resumed shortly after, but the early civic infrastructure was badly disrupted, and the coinage produced there through the late 530s and into the 540s reflects that instability in its irregular fabric and inconsistent module.
The Justinianic plague reached Constantinople in 541 and spread west through imperial territories within two years, collapsing tax revenues and straining the mint's output precisely within this coin's production window.