JUSTIN II w/ Empress, Christian Crosses in Cyzicus, Byzantine Emperor Coin

Description

JUSTIN II, Byzantine Emperor, 565 A.D. – 578 A.D.
Justin II
was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia.
As a member of the Justinian Dynasty, his reign was marked by wars with Persia and the Empire’s loss of greater parts of Italy. He suffered from serious mental problems to the extent that he eventually abdicated his throne to general Tiberius.
Empress Sophia and Tiberius ruled jointly.
Four years later Justin died at which time Tiberius took on the name, Tiberius II Constantine, and began his sole reign.
BYZANTINE NUMMI COINS
Though the Western Roman Empire, with its capital of Rome, finally collapsed in the fifth century, the Eastern Roman Empire with its capital Constantinople, continued for an other thousand years until about 1453 A.D.  This era of Roman history is called the
Byzantine
era.  These coins, among many other types of coins, were very different from those struck during Rome’s Imperial period.  The featured coins are from the nummi series of coins.  The featured coin here is called a Follis, the largest of the series.  For some perspective, the most valuable coin of the time was the gold solidus worth 420 follis.
The reverse had a large letter indicating the coin denomination according to numerology (M or mu = 40, K or kappa = 20, I or iota = 10, and E or epsilon = 5).  Sometimes the coin's denomination was designated with one or more X's.
This coin was struck in the
ancient city of
Cyzicus.
It was struck in one of many officinae or workshops in the city.
Officinae
were designated by a different letter of the Greek or Roman alphabets (in the case of this coin by the letter
B
indicating that it was struck in the 2nd
officina
), or by certain recognizable symbols such as palm branches, dots, stars, and sunrises.
Here are its attrib
utes:
JUSTIN II & Empress Sophia, AE Follis (28-30 mm, 13.82 gm)
OBV:  DN IVSTINVS PP AVG, Justin on left, Sophia on right, seated facing on double-throne, both nimbate, Justin holding cross on globe, Sophia holding sceptre topped with cross, sometimes with cross between their heads
REV:   Large M; ANNO left; cross above; X I right; officina (B) below
EXE:   KYZ    Cyzicus mint    SB 372      565-578 A.D.
As usual the pictures do not necessarily show off the coins in their entirety.
Let me know if you have questions.
Absolute Guarantee of Authenticity
I have collected Roman coins for many years and have always bought coins from trusted, reputable dealers. The coins I sell are ancient currency minted under the authority of the Roman and Byzantine Empires.  The details I describe (emperor, location, legends, etc) are derived from well-known and certified attribution sources.  The descriptions are guaranteed accurate as much as the condition of the coin allows.  This
Guarantee of Authenticity
does not make any claim or estimate of the value or grades of the coin(s).
I will send each coin that I have attributed in a 2X2 coin holder on which is written all important identifiable legends and features.
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