Follis - Anonymous Class I Constantinopolis

Class I sits at the tail end of the anonymous follis series, issued during one of Byzantium's most turbulent stretches — the years bracketing the catastrophic defeat at Manzikert in 1071 had already fractured Anatolian territory, and the 1078–1081 window saw three emperors in rapid, often violent succession before Alexios I Komnenos seized power. The anonymous series itself was a deliberate policy choice, begun under John I Tzimiskes around 969, to remove imperial portraiture from bronze coinage entirely and emphasize religious authority over dynastic identity.

By Class I, fabric quality had declined markedly from earlier classes, and flans are frequently irregular.