Solidus with Busts of Constans II and Constantine IV (obverse) (659–661): Art, History and Details

Solidus with Busts of Constans II and Constantine IV (obverse) (659–661) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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 coin shown here is the solidus, the basic gold coin of 24 karats.

Object facts

• Title: Solidus with Busts of Constans II and Constantine IV (obverse)
• Date: 659–661
• Culture: Byzantium
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 1.9 cm (3/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Byzantine
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 2012.22.a

A detail from the museum

The emperor depicted on the left was also known as "Constantine the Bearded."

Collection credit

Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.