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40 Nummi - Justinian the Great
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 40 Nummi (1⁄180) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Frontal bust of a secondary imperial figure, possibly a co-emperor or consular personage, rendered in the Byzantine frontal style with a jewelled diadem and draped bust. The hair is depicted with fine dotted granulation typical of late antique coinage. A partially legible Latin legend surrounds the effigy, reading (CONS)TANTI-ANVS PP, distributed along the periphery. The field is relatively plain, with the irregular flan characteristic of this replica series. A small decorative element appears at the top of the reverse field. |
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| Additional information |
Justinian's follis reform of 538 AD increased the weight of the 40-nummi piece significantly from its earlier, lighter incarnation — a deliberate response to complaints that the post-reform 537 coins were still underweight relative to their face value. The regnal year system introduced on these bronzes, marking each coin with the year of Justinian's reign, was an administrative innovation with no real precedent in earlier Roman or Byzantine coinage.
Constantinople, Nicomedia, Cyzicus, Antioch, and Thessalonica all struck this denomination concurrently, and mint attribution remains one of the more active areas of specialist debate for the series.