Histamenon

 

Histamenon of Emperor Constantine VIII (r. 1025–1028) 

Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: the gold solidus and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins. By the end of the empire the currency was issued only in silver stavrata and minor copper coins with no gold issue.

The East Roman or Byzantine Empire established and operated several mints throughout its history. Aside from the main metropolitan mint in the capital, Constantinople, a varying number of provincial mints were also established in other urban centres, especially during the 6th century. Most provincial mints except for Syracuse were closed or lost to invasions by the mid-7th century. After the loss of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople became the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century, when major provincial mints began to re-appear. Many mints, both imperial and, as the Byzantine world fragmented, belonging to autonomous local rulers, were operated in the 12th to 14th centuries. Constantinople and Trebizond, the seat of the independent Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461), survived until their conquest by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century.

The start of what is viewed as Byzantine currency by numismatics began with the monetary reform of Anastasius in 498, who reformed the late Roman Empire coinage system which consisted of the gold solidus and the bronze nummi. The nummus was an extremely small bronze coin, at about 8–10 mm, weight of 0.56 g making it at 576 to the Roman pound^[3] which was inconvenient because a large number of them were required even for small transactions.

The only regularly issued silver coin was the Hexagram first issued by Heraclius in 615 which lasted until the end of the 7th century,^[4][5] minted in varying fineness with a weight generally between 7.5 and 8.5 grams. It was succeeded by the initially ceremonial miliaresion established by Leo III the Isaurian in ca. 720, which became standard issue from ca. 830 on and until the late 11th century, when it was discontinued after being severely debased. Small transactions were conducted with bronze coinage throughout this period.

Staménon (3,18 g) : bronze ; 21 x 25

Mavi Boncuk | 

Histamenon (Greek: [νόμισμα] ἱστάμενον [nómisma] histámenon, "standard [coin]") was the name given to the gold Byzantine solidus when the slightly lighter tetarteron was introduced in the 960s. To distinguish the two, the histamenon was changed in form from the original solidus, becoming wider and thinner, as well as concave (scyphate) in form. Later usually shortened to stamenon (Greek: στάμενον), it was discontinued after 1092. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the name stamenon came to be applied to the concave billon and copper trachea coins.

Ever since Emperor Constantine I (r. 306–337) introduced it in 309, the Byzantine Empire's main coinage had been the high-quality solidus or nomisma, which had remained standard in weight (4.55 grams) and gold content (24 carats) through the centuries.

Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969), however, introduced a new coin, the [nomisma] tetarteron ("quarter [coin]") which was 2 carats (i.e. about 1⁄12, despite its name) lighter than the original nomisma. The latter now became known as the histamenon, from the Greek verb ἵστημι, "to stand up", implying that these followed the traditional standard. The reasons for this change are not clear; Byzantine chroniclers, however, suggest fiscal motives, reporting that Nikephoros collected the taxes as before in the histamenon while paying back with the tetarteron, which was officially rated as equal in value to the full-weight coin.

Initially, the two coins were virtually indistinguishable except in weight. During the later reign of Basil II (r. 976–1025), the tetarteron began to be minted in a thicker and smaller form, while the histamenon became correspondingly thinner and wider. Only during the sole rule of Constantine VIII (r. 1025–1028) did the two coins become iconographically distinct as well.[6][7] By the mid-11th century, the tetarteron measured 18 mm wide and its weight apparently standardized at 3.98 grams, i.e. three carats less than the histamenon or stamenon (a name first attested in 1030), which now measured 25 mm in diameter (as opposed to 20 mm for the original solidus). In addition, under Michael IV the Paphlagonian (r. 1034–1041), it began to be minted in a slightly concave (scyphate) form, possibly to increase the thin coin's strength and to make it less easily bent. Flat coins were still struck at times, but scyphate ones came to predominate from Constantine IX (r. 1042–1055) on and became standard under Isaac I Komnenos (r. 1057–1059). These concave coins were known as histamena trachea or simply trachea (τραχέα, "rough, uneven") from their shape.