Nikephoros

Intro ...

(963-969)

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CONSTANTINOPLE

Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). AV Histamenon nomisma. Constantinople mint. Sear 1776.

Obv: + ıҺs xᴘs ʀєx ʀєςɴᴀɴᴛınm. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels.

Rev: nıcʜꜰoᴘ’ cє ьᴀꜱıⳑ’ ᴀчςς ь ʀ. Facing busts of Nicephorus, with short beard (left), and Basil, beardless (right), both crowned, Nicephoros wearing loros, Basil wearing chlamys; holding between them long patriarchal cross.

Notes: the histamenon nomisma has the same weight as a solidus (24 carats or 4.4g).

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). AV Histamenon nomisma. Constantinople mint. Sear 1777.

Obv: + ıҺs xᴘs ʀєx ʀєςɴᴀɴᴛınm. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels.

Rev: ɴıᴋʜϕoᴘ’ ᴋᴀı ʀᴀcıᴧ’ ᴀᴠг ʀ ᴘ. Facing busts of Nicephorus, with short beard (left), and Basil, beardless (right), both crowned, Nicephoros wearing loros, Basil wearing chlamys; holding between them long patriarchal cross.

Notes: exact same type as the tetarteron nomisma SB 1779.

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). AV Histamenon nomisma. Constantinople mint. Sear 1778.

Obv: + ıҺs xᴘs ʀєx ʀєςɴᴀɴᴛınm. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels.

Rev: + ⲑєᴏᴛᴏc’ ь’ʜⲑ’ nıcʜꜰ ∂єsᴘ (or very similar). Facing busts of the Virgin, nimbate (left), and Nicephorus, with short beard (right), holding between them patriarchal cross; Virgin is wearing stola and maphorium, and divides ᴍ—ⲑ; emperor wears crown and loros.

Notes: exact same type as the tetarteron nomisma SB 1780.

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). AV Tetarteron nomisma. Constantinople mint. Sear 1779.

Obv: + ıҺs xᴘs ʀєx ʀєςɴᴀɴᴛınm. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels.

Rev: ɴıᴋʜϕoᴘ’ ᴋᴀı ʀᴀcıᴧ’ ᴀᴠг ʀ ᴘ. Facing busts of Nicephorus, with short beard (left), and Basil, beardless (right), both crowned, Nicephoros wearing loros, Basil wearing chlamys; holding between them long patriarchal cross.

Notes: exact same type as the histamenon nomisma SB 1777.

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). AV Tetarteron nomisma. Constantinople mint. Sear 1780.

Obv: + ıҺs xᴘs ʀєx ʀєςɴᴀɴᴛınm. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels.

Rev: + ⲑєᴏᴛᴏc’ ь’ʜⲑ’ nıcʜꜰ ∂єsᴘ (or very similar). Facing busts of the Virgin, nimbate (left), and Nicephorus, with short beard (right), holding between them patriarchal cross; Virgin is wearing stola and maphorium, and divides ᴍ—ⲑ; emperor wears crown and loros.

Notes: exact same type as the histamenon nomisma SB 1778.

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). AR Miliaresion. Constantinople mint. Sear 1781.

Obv: + ıҺsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ ᕯ. Cross crosslet on globus above two steps; at center, medallion of four lobes containing facing bust of Nicephorus, with short beard, wearing crown and loros and dividing the inscription n / ı — c / ꜰ; triple border ornamented with 8 equally spaced globules.

Rev: + nıcʜꜰ’ / єn xω ᴀᴠτᴏ / cʀᴀᴛ’ єᴠꜱєь’ / ьᴀꜱıⳑєᴠꜱ / ʀωmᴀıω’ in five lines, — ·፧· — above and beneath; triple border ornamented with 8 equally spaced globules.

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). Æ Follis. Constantinople mint. Sear 1782.

Obv: + nıcıꜰʀ ьᴀꜱıⳑ ʀᴏᴍ. Bust facing, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding labarum and globus cruciger.

Rev: + nıcʜꜰ’ / єn ⲑєω ьᴀ / ꜱıⳑєᴠꜱ ʀω / mᴀıωn in four lines.

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Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). Æ Follis. Constantinople mint. Sear 1783.

Obv: + nıcıꜰʀ ьᴀꜱıⳑє ʀω. Bust facing, with short beard, wearing crown, loros, and additional garment ornamented with pearls; holding cruciform scepter in right hand, and globe surmounted by trefoil in left hand.

Rev: + nıcʜꜰ’ / єn ⲑєω ьᴀ / ꜱıⳑєᴠꜱ ʀω / mᴀıωn in four lines.

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CHERSON

Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969). Æ Flat (18mm, 3.75g). Cherson mint. Sear 1784.

Obv: Monogram.

Rev: Monogram.

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The reign of Nicephorus II raises no chronological difficulties. It was one of great military glory, but the consequent heavy taxation and drain on manpower, a spate of legislative activity which bore heavily on the monasteries and on the poor, and Nicephorus’ own frugal and ascetic habits did nothing to enhance his popularity. Theophano eventually decided to dispose of him with the aid of John Zimisces, Nicephorus’ nephew and the ablest and most attractive of his generals. Their intrigue culminated in her hus- band's murder, in the most atrocious and horrifying circumstances, on the night of 10/11 December 969.

Nicephorus’ coinage is relatively simple and raises no problems, though where there is more than one class we are unable to date the transition from one to the other. Although he had undertaken to respect the rights of his stepsons, Constantine appears on none of his coins and Basil only on his first issue of solidi, never on the silver or copper. One may indeed suspect that the introduction of Class II of the solidus, with the figures of the Virgin and Nicephorus, was as much due to a wish to remove Basil's effigy from the coins as to one of rendering due honor to his benefactress.

The coinage in general seems to have been modeled on that of Romanus I. Class II of the solidus shows Nicephorus being crowned by the Virgin, just as on Class V of the solidi of Constantine VII's reign Romanus I is shown crowned by Christ, and the inscription ΘЄOTOKЄ BOHΘЄI NICЄF’ δЄCΠ’ echoes the KVRIЄ BOHΘЄI ROMANω δЄCPOTH of Romanus I. The design of the miliaresion, with the emperor's bust in a medallion at the intersection of the arms of the cross, goes back to Romanus I’s coinage of 931-44, though the details are more practically arranged: a four-lobed medallion made room for the cross on the imperial crown and for NI CF beside the bust instead of in the field. The folles have a general resemblance to those of Romanus I, showing the emperor with a square face and heavy beard, but the dress and insignia are different. Class 1 shows Nicephorus wearing a costume which is neither loros nor chlamys. There is an outer garment with a deep V-shaped opening in front; beneath it is a rich undergarment shown as a pattern of squares and pellets, the later mainly circular but pear-shaped in the corner squares at the top, the whole surmounted by a jeweled collar. On the same class the emperor holds a globus surmounted by a trefoil instead of the normal cross or patriarchal cross. Its significance is unknown, and there are few other cases of its use on Byzantine coins. Only on coins of Class 2 are the imperial costume and insignia more normal in character.

The epigraphy of the coins is interesting in a number of respects. The reverse of Class II of the solidus is notable as having the first consistently Greek lettering in the Byzantine series, instead of the usual mixture of Greek and Latin forms: NIKH+OP’ KAI RACIΛ’ AVΓ’ R’ P’, as against the NICHFOP’ CЄ bASIL’ AЧGG b R’ of Class I. The letter forms, however, are generally bad, especially on the obverse, the tendency to reduce them to the fewest number of strokes and pellets, which had already been apparent in the later years of Constantine VII’s reign and in that of his son, being now carried to extremes. A is often unbarred; X has a form like an N, or like the Hebrew letter aleph, being made with an S-like transverse stroke and short upright ones at the opposite corners (N); P is Γ or I· ; S is Ↄ; b is a vertical stroke with a slight thickening at the bottom; R tends to be either a K or an N with a thickened top or with a pellet above it. The result is that the opening XPS of the obverse inscription has the appearance of NΓↃ or NIↃ, while the final b(asileus) R(omaion) becomes I’K’ instead of b’R’ or b’P’. It was possibly the proliferation of corrupt forms that resulted in the adoption of consistently Greek lettering for the reverses of Class II, but the obverse inscription was left unchanged and remained as bad as before.

From the monetary point of view, the most important event of Nicephorus’ reign was the introduction of the tetarteron, a variety of gold coin slightly lighter than the solidus of standard weight but identical with it in outward appearance. Byzantine tradition regarded its introduction as a measure of official debasement: Nicephorus’ greed, or at least his need for money, gave him the idea of settling government obligations in the lighter coin while requiring taxes and other dues to be paid in those of full weight. Other explanations are possible, for it was not the first time that light-weight solidi had been issued. The problem is discussed elsewhere. The introduction of the tetarteron, however, makes necessary a change in the way in which thegold coinage isdescribed inthecatalogue. Up to now the Latin term solidus has been employed. Henceforward it will be more convenient to use the Greek nomisma and to distinguish between its two forms, the histamenon, the coin of full weight, and the tetarteron, its lighter counterpart.

(from DOC vol. lll)

Coinage