Featured Coins: Tyrant Coins of the Golden Horn
July 9, 2026
Following Constantine’s consecration of the city in 330 CE, Constantinople reigned for more than a millennium as the economic and cultural center of the Western world. Through the city’s ports and counting houses, the streets pulsed with vast quantities of silver and gold, which was mined from the farthest reaches of the empire. The metals were accumulated by bartering with visiting traders and taken from conquered enemies. Coinage underwent significant changes throughout the period, starting recognizably as Romanic in form, and ending with an entirely new set of denominations. Motifs and physical forms also were transformed in the early medieval period.
The Tyrant Collection chronicles this remarkable period with superb examples of the aureii, solidi, and hyperpyra. These coins serve as the ultimate artistic relics of their issuers and the times in which they commanded humanity’s greatest urban marvel. PCGS has certified a selection of these remarkably well preserved pieces to be displayed at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A few appetizing selections are presented herein to illustrate innovations in portraiture, religious iconography, and planchet style over the course of this period.
From PCGS