Denomination: Anonymous Folles, Bronze  Date: 969-1092 AD

Description: Class A1 Anonymous Follis, Bust of Christ facing with nimbus cross with two dots in each limb of the cross, holding book of Gospels decorated with a border of dots and dot in centre / IhSUS XRISTUS bASILEU bASILE in four lines, sometimes with adornments above and/or below.

History: This coin is part of a grouping of coins called “Anonymous Folles”. These coins are so-called because they do not bear the name or mark of any particular ruler. They were issued during the period between 969 and 1092 and include purely religious images and inscriptions. This particular coin is especially interesting because the obverse bears a portrait of Jesus Christ. The reverse side of most of these coins has the inscription in Latin “Jesus Christ, King of Kings”. According to sources from that period and numismatic data anonymous folles started to be struck during the period of John I. The copper coinage Byzantine Empire, between the accession to the throne of John I in 969 and the great monetary reform of Alexius I in 1092 is distinguished from that of earlier centuries in two respects. First, there is a portrait of Christ on copper coins, although it was an application preferred only on golden coins until that time. Second, they were not struck in the name of any emperor.