id: 144206 accession number: 1968.61.b share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.61.b updated: 2023-08-23 22:11:40.947000 Nomisma with John I Zimisces (reverse), 969–976. Byzantium, Constantinople, 10th century. Gold; diameter: 2.3 cm (7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken, in memory of his father Thomas Kennedy Milliken 1968.61.b title: Nomisma with John I Zimisces (reverse) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 969–976 creation date earliest: 969 creation date latest: 976 current location: creditline: Gift of William Mathewson Milliken, in memory of his father Thomas Kennedy Milliken copyright: --- culture: Byzantium, Constantinople, 10th century technique: gold department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Byzantine type: Coins find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 2.3 cm (7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William M. Milliken, Cleveland, Ohio. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: 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/1968.61.b/1968.61.b_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.61.b/1968.61.b_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.61.b/1968.61.b_full.tif