id: 144178 accession number: 1968.52.b share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.52.b updated: 2023-08-23 22:11:28.701000 Solidus of Theodosius I the Great (reverse), c. AD 383–88. Byzantium, Constantinople, Byzantine period, 4th century. Gold; diameter: 2.1 cm (13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken, in memory of his father Thomas Kennedy Milliken 1968.52.b title: Solidus of Theodosius I the Great (reverse) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. AD 383–88 creation date earliest: 378 creation date latest: 393 current location: 104 Late Antiquity creditline: Gift of William Mathewson Milliken, in memory of his father Thomas Kennedy Milliken copyright: --- culture: Byzantium, Constantinople, Byzantine period, 4th century technique: gold department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Byzantine type: Coins find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 2.1 cm (13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William Mathewson Milliken, Cleveland, Ohio. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Byzantine Gold Coins The vast number of surviving Byzantine coins attests to the level of trade across the empire. Controlled and supervised by the emperor, the producers of coins took care to represent his authority and reflect his stature. Talented artists were recruited to engrave the dies (molds) used for the striking of coins. Emperors increasingly came to include their heirs and co-emperors on their coinage, as well as other family members or even earlier rulers. Coins were recognized, then as now, as small, portable works of art. With their inscriptions and images, Byzantine coins provide valuable documentation of historical events and a record of the physical appearance of the emperors. The coins shown here include the solidus, the basic gold coin of 24 karats; the tremissis, a gold coin of one-third the weight and value of the solidus; and the nomisma, which in the 10th century replaced the solidus as the standard gold coin. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.52.b/1968.52.b_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.52.b/1968.52.b_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.52.b/1968.52.b_full.tif