Anonymous Christ Follis (Class A3) — Basil II and Constantine VIII - Great in Hand!

Obverse: +EMMANOVHL, facing nimbate bust of Christ Pantokrator, wearing pallium and colobium, holding Gospels with both hands, IC to left, XC to right, nimbus and Gospels ornamented with crosses

Reverse: +IhSuS / XRISTuS / bASILEu / bASILE ("Jesus Christ, King of Kings"), in four lines

Mass: 12.81 g

Diameter: 30 mm

This follis belongs to the anonymous bronze coinage struck under Basil II and Constantine VIII, dated to circa 1023 to November 11, 1028 AD, and bears no imperial name or portrait at all, replacing the emperor's image entirely with that of Christ. The obverse presents a facing, nimbate bust of Christ Pantokrator, dressed in the pallium and colobium and holding the Gospel book with both hands, the nimbus and Gospels further ornamented with crosses, and framed by the invocation +EMMANOVHL ("God with us") alongside the abbreviations IC and XC for "Iesus Christus." The reverse carries no ruler's name or title, only the four-line legend proclaiming Christ himself as "King of Kings."

The introduction of this Christ-centered, anonymous coinage marked a significant shift in Byzantine numismatic tradition, subordinating the emperor's own image to that of Christ as the true sovereign authority behind imperial rule. It proved remarkably durable, continuing in various classes for roughly a century after its introduction under Basil II, one of the Byzantine Empire's most militarily successful rulers, and his nominal co-emperor Constantine VIII, whose long reign together oversaw major territorial expansion, including the conquest of Bulgaria.