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Semissis - Leo I VICTORIA AVGG, Constantinopolis
| Issuer | Eastern Roman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 462-466 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Semissis (1/2) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing pearl-diademed bust of Emperor Leo I, rendered in the late antique imperial style characteristic of fifth-century Constantinople. The effigy presents the emperor draped and cuirassed, with fine engraving detail visible on the beaded diadem, the paludamentum fastened at the shoulder, and the layered cuirass beneath. The facial features are rendered in three-quarter front view with a slightly stylized, hieratic quality typical of Eastern Roman coinage of this period. The surrounding Latin legend runs clockwise around the obverse field, divided across the flan. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | D N LEO PE-RPET AVG (Translation: Our Lord Leo, Perpetual August) |
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| Additional information |
Leo I came to power in 457 largely through the influence of the Alan general Aspar, who expected the new emperor to remain a compliant figurehead. He did not. The years bracketing this semissis saw Leo maneuvering carefully against Aspar's dominance, cultivating the Isaurian military faction that would eventually allow him to have Aspar killed in 471. The gold coinage of this period functioned as much as a statement of imperial continuity as a financial instrument, maintaining Theodosian weight standards even as the western court at Ravenna struggled to do the same.