The Story Behind the Strike
During his first reign, Justinian II pursued an assertive program of government and war before being overthrown in 695. This solidus belongs to the established early Byzantine tradition: the emperor faces outward in ceremonial military dress, and a cross potent rises on the reverse. Its importance becomes clearer beside the second Justinian II solidus in the collection. Together the two objects reveal a conscious change in the hierarchy of images. Here the ruler remains primary; on the later Christ type, the sacred portrait takes precedence. The brushed surface is part of this specimen’s modern condition, while the type itself marks the threshold of a major transformation in medieval coinage.