1042-1055 Ancient Byzantine Gold Constantine IX Nomisma NGC MS

An Ancient Byzantine Gold Nomisma from the Reign of Constantine IX!

• Grade -- NGC Mint State (MS), strike 5/5, surface 4/5  
• Obverse -- Bust of Christ facing, wearing cross nimbus (cross within halo) and holding the Gospels
• Reverse -- Crowned half-length bust of Constantine X facing, wearing loros (traditional Byzantine royal garment), holding military standard and globus cruciger (cross on globe)
• Legend -- Vs. XIS REX IHS + reg NANTInm (obverse), Rs + CWNST  Rm bASILEVS (reverse)
• Diameter -- Approximately 27 mm

From the desk of GovMint.com’s resident ancient coin expert, David Levine:

• This is a beautiful portrait coin with an exceptional rendering of Jesus.
• It is clear from all the coins of the Byzantine Empire that it was a Christian Empire, where the Emperor played a powerful role in the Church. These portrait of Jesus coins make an important contribution to the history of the Empire and gracefully exhibit the part that Christianity played in daily life.
• It is simply amazing to have a coin of this quality from almost 1000 years ago, with so much important history attached to it.
• Constantine IX became Emperor of the Byzantine Empire when he married Empress Zoe who was looking for a husband to increase her power in relation to her co-Empress and sister, Theodora.
• The name, Monomachus, was a name taken by his family, meaning "lone soldier."
• Scyphate is a term frequently used in numismatics to refer to the concave or "cup-shaped" Byzantine coins of the 11th-14th centuries.