Obverse: Helmeted and Cuirassed Bust of the
Emperor Facing Forward, Holding Cross
Reverse: Angel Standing Facing Forward, Holding
Labarum and Globus Cruciger
Maurice Tiberius was an active and vigorous
ruler, with a long-term plan for the empire,
something his predecessor Tiberius had
definitely been lacking. The new emperor
reversed the centralization of Justinian and his
successors. In the besieged west, he introduced
the system of Exarchates, thus solidifying control
over Italy, Sicily, and North Africa. An excellent
military officer, Maurice gained a favorable peace
with the Persians, ending a twenty years of war
which had erupted when Justin II refused to pay
the Persian King the tribute due him under the
treaty agreed with Justinian. However, the
Balkans proved to be the source of Maurice’s
downfall. Unable to fend off the Slavs pushing
over the Danube border, his underpaid and
overstretched western army grew disenchanted
with Maurice. When, in 602, the army was
ordered to make their winter camp on the hostile
north shore of the Danube, revolt broke out. A
grotesque, half-barbarian junior officer by the
name of Phocas was raised on a shield and
proclaimed Augustus. Phocas marched on the
capital where the senate confirmed his title.
Maurice and his children were executed by
henchmen soon after.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our possession?
As we reach into our pockets to pull out some
change, we rarely hesitate to think of who might
have touched the coin before us, or where the
coin will venture to after it leaves our hands.
More than money, coins are a symbol of the state
that struck them, of a specific time and location,
whether contemporary currencies or artifacts of a
long forgotten empire. This stunning hand-
struck coin reveals an expertise of craftsmanship
and intricate sculptural detail that is often
lacking in contemporary machine-made
currencies. This magnificent coin is a memorial
to the ancient glories of the Byzantine Empire
passed down from the hands of civilization to
civilization, from generation to generation.
- (C.6907)
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