Browsing Byzantine Coinage of Constantine XI



When Constantine succeeded his brother John VIII, the Byzantine Empire consisted of a small parcel of land in Morea and the city of Constantinople. The Ottoman sultan Mehmed II placed Constantinople under siege, and the last emperor died fighting. The last coinage of Constantinople was probably struck in the final months of the city's existence as payment to the 8,000 brave soldiers and mercenaries who fought to the end against the 60,000 strong Ottoman army. So, unattractive as the coins are, they should be honoured for that reason.
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DOC 1509Constantine XI. 1448-1453. AR one-eighth Stavraton (0.65 gm). [I]C-[XC], nimbate bust of Christ / K T T N, crowned, facing bust of Constantine; dots above and below the letters. DOC 1509; Sear -.TextImage
DOC 1787Constantine XI Paeleologus (AD 1448-1453). Silver stavraton (6.62 gm). Constantinople. IC - XC, nimbate bust of Christ facing, holding book of Gospels, double dotted border. KWNCTATINOC DECPOTH CO PALEOLOG, QYXAPOTH BACILYC POMEON in two lines around nimbate, crowned bust of Constantine XI facing. DO 1787. Bendall 91.TextImage
DOC 1789Constantine XI Dragases. 1448-1453 AD. AR one eighth Stavraton or one sixteenth Hyperperon (0.57 gm). Constantinople. IC-XC, Facing bust of nimbate Christ; dot to left and right. / [K T I N], facing, crowned bust of Constantine. TextImage