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Solidus - Basil I
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 867-868 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 21 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | +bASILIOS AЧGЧST (Translation: Basil Augustus) |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Basil I's earliest solidi, struck in the first year of his reign, were issued by a man who had murdered his way to the throne — Emperor Michael III was killed in his bedchamber in September 867, almost certainly on Basil's direct order, just months after Basil had already eliminated his co-conspirator and rival Bardas. The DOC III-2 classification places this emission among the very first products of the Macedonian dynasty, which would go on to rule Byzantium for nearly two centuries.
The 867–868 dating makes this a transitional issue, struck before the iconographic program of the new dynasty had fully stabilized.