id: 144185 accession number: 1968.55 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.55 updated: 2023-08-23 22:11:31.907000 Solidus of Justinian I , c. 545–565. Byzantium, Constantinople, Byzantine period, 6th century. Gold; diameter: 2 cm (13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken, in memory of his father Thomas Kennedy Milliken 1968.55 title: Solidus of Justinian I title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 545–565 creation date earliest: 545 creation date latest: 565 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, 6th century technique: gold department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Byzantine type: Coins find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 2 cm (13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1968 opening date: 1969-01-29T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William M. Milliken, Cleveland, Ohio. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: This coin is a small portrait of Justinian as a powerful emperor. He wears a crown, holds an orb, and wears a ceremonial sash, all symbolizing his great power. 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 solidus is 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/1968.55/1968.55_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.55/1968.55_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.55/1968.55_full.tif