The East Roman or Byzantine Empire (330–1453) operated a number of mints throughout its history. Aside from the main metropolitan mints in the capital, Constantinople, and other major cities, a varying number of provincial mints were also established in provincial urban centres, especially during the 6th century. Most provincial mints except for Syracuse were closed or lost by the mid-7th century. After the loss of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople became the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century, when major provincial mints begin to re-appear. Many mints, both imperial and, as the Byzantine world fragmented, belonging to autonomous local rulers, were operated in the 12th–14th centuries. Constantinople and Trebizond, the seat of the independent Empire of Trebizond, survived until their conquest by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century.
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The original Roman mint network was reorganized and centralized by Emperor Diocletian at the end of the 3rd century, parallel to the concurrent restructuring of the Empire's provincial and fiscal administration. The mints were limited to one per diocese (except for a few exceptions) and placed under the dual control of the praetorian prefectures and the comes sacrarum largitionum.[1][2] During the next two centuries, some mints were closed and others opened as fiscal necessity or administrative changes dictated. In addition, the various emperors had mints attached to their retinue (comitatus) which followed them on their journeys and campaigns throughout the Empire. After a law promulgated in 366/369, the minting of precious-metal coins was confined to these comitatensian mints, either from a permanent base or by making use of the regional mints nearest to the current location of the emperor and his comitatus. Otherwise, regional mints were mostly limited to issuing base-metal coins.[3]
During the course of the 5th century, this system collapsed. The western half of the Empire had been overrun by Germanic tribes, although some mints remained active in the West under the new barbarian rulers, continuing minting coins, including high-quality gold solidi, in the name of the eastern emperors, most notably in Ostrogothic Italy and Burgundy.[4] In the East, most mints seem to have been active until into the reign of Zeno (r. 475–491), but by the accession of Anastasius I (r. 491–518) only the mints of Constantinople and Thessalonica remained active.[5][6] In 498, Anastasius initiated a major coinage reform which is held to mark the start of the "Byzantine" coinage system proper. At the same time he re-opened the mints at Nicomedia and later at Antioch.[5] The number of mints expanded greatly during the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565), in large part due to his reconquest of Italy, Africa and parts of Spain. As many as fourteen mints were active during Justinian's reign, with new mints opened or taken over from the Vandals and Ostrogoths in Carthage, Rome, Ravenna, Carthagena and in smaller provincial centres. Most of these were confined to copper coinage. Ravenna and Carthage alone produced silver coins in quantity, while gold issues were restricted to these two, Catania, Thessalonica and Constantinople; the later however far outstripped the others in output.[5][7][8]
The territorial losses of the early 7th century, with the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628, the Slavic incursions into the Balkans and the onset of the Muslim conquests, drastically diminished the number of active mints; and in 628/629, Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) closed all remaining provincial mints in the East except for Alexandria, which fell to the Arabs in 646. In the West too, one by one the cities hosting the various mints fell to various enemies, until by the 9th century, only Syracuse remained.[9][10][11]
With the fall of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople remained the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century. The provincial mint at Cherson was reopened ca. 860, but its output was restricted to copper coinage. Thessalonica became the main provincial mint after it reopened in the second half of the 11th century, and other provincial centres – Thebes or Corinth in southern Greece, Philadelphia in the 14th century, Magnesia and Nicaea during the Empire of Nicaea – were active at times during the Empire's final centuries. Usurpers or semi-autonomous local lords also occasionally established mints of their own, like Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus, Leo Gabalas of Rhodes or the Gabras family of Trebizond. Constantinople however remained the main mint, providing the bulk of the coinage.[9][12]
| Name | Attested activity | Mint mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrianople | 1354–1356 | Active as a mint for the co-emperor Matthew Kantakouzenos during his rule over Thrace (1347–1357). Didymoteichon is an alternative site.[13] | |
| Alexandretta | 609–610 | ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔ | Active during Heraclius' revolt against Phocas.[14] |
| Alexandria | before 330 to after 475, ca. 525–646 | ΑΛΕΞ, ΑΛΞΟΒ | Active from before Diocletian to the reign of Zeno (r. 475–491) as the mint of the Diocese of Egypt. Re-established ca. 525, active until its fall to the Arabs.[14][15] |
| Antioch | before 330 to after 475, ca. 512–610 | ΑΝ, ΑΝΤΙΚ, ΑΝΤΧ; THEUP, THEUPO, ΘVΠOΛS | Active from before Diocletian to the reign of Zeno (r. 475–491) as the mint of the Diocese of the East.[16] Re-established by Anastasius. Renamed to Theoupolis (Θεούπολις, "City of God") after the 526 earthquake.[17] No coins are attested after 610, its establishment having probably been transferred to Jerusalem (see below).[18] |
| Arta | ca. 1204–1271 | Main mint for the Despotate of Epirus. Attribution is conjectural but probable, as Arta was the capital of Epirus.[17][19] | |
| Carthage | 533 – ca. 695 | CAR, KAR, KART, CT, CRTG, KRTG | Established by Diocletian ca. 296 but suppressed in 307 and its staff transferred to Ostia.[20] A new mint was established by the Vandals there, and was taken over by the Byzantines in 533. Extant until ca. 692/693 or 695, when it was moved to Sardinia before the threat of Arab conquest.[14][21] |
| Carthagena | ca. 560–624 | Active in southern Spain until the fall of the last Byzantine strongholds to the Visigoths in ca. 624.[14][22] | |
| Catania | ca. 582–629 | CAT | Established in 582/583 and last coinage attested in 628/629.[14][23] |
| Cherson | 6th cent., late 9th – early 11th cent. | ΧΕΡCWΝΟC, ΧΕΡCΟΝΟC, | Active under Justinian I (527–565), Maurice (582–602), and from the reign of Basil I (r. 867–886) to Basil II (r. 976–1025).[24] |
| Constantia in Cyprus | 610 and ca. 626–629 | ΚΥΠΡΟV, ΚΥΠΡΕ, KYΠΡ, CΠΡ | Active during Heraclius' revolt and again in 626–629, chiefly to cover military needs.[14][25] |
| Constantina in Numidia | 540/541–592/593 | CON | Only sporadically active,[14] attribution now generally dismissed.[26] |
| Constantinople | 330–1204, 1261–1453 | CON, CONOB, CONOS, COB | Active throughout the Byzantine era, except for the period where it functioned as the mint of the Latin Empire (1204–1261).[24] |
| Cyzicus | 518–629 | KYZ, KY | Active since before Diocletian, who made it the mint for the Diocese of Asia.[27] Re-established by Anastasius I, it remained active until 629/630, with an interruption in 614/615–625/626 due to the war with Persia.[24][28] |
| Isaura | 617/618–618/619 | ISAYR | Established to cover military needs in the war against Persia. Transferred from Seleucia in 617, and suppressed soon after, probably due to the Persian advance.[24][29] |
| Jerusalem | 608–614/615 | ΙΠ, ΙΧ, IEΡOCO, XC NIKA | Established in 608/609 during Heraclius' revolt by Phocas loyalists, possibly by transfer of the Antioch mint, and survived until the Sassanid Persians took the city in 614/615.[14][30] |
| Magnesia | 1214–1261 | Main mint and treasury of the Empire of Nicaea after the transfer of the Nicaea mint there.[31][32] | |
| Naples | after ca. 661 to ca. 830–840 | NE | Active from the reign of Constantine IV (r. 641–685), probably after ca. 661/662 when it became the seat of a doux, to Theophilos (r. 829–842). Effectively outside imperial control as the doux became increasingly independent.[33] |
| Nicaea | ca. 1208–1214 | Main mint of the Empire of Nicaea until transferred to Magnesia, probably both because of the proximity of Latin Empire territory in Bithynia and to be closer to the Nicaean emperors' favourite residence, Nymphaion.[31][34] | |
| Nicomedia | 498–627 | NIK, NIKO, NIC, NIKM, NIKOMI, NI | Established by Diocletian ca. 294 for the Diocese of Pontus.[20] Active until the late 5th century, reopened by Anastasius I ca. 498 and active until 629/630, with an interruption in 617/618–625/626 due to the war with Persia.[14][35] |
| Nicosia | 1184–1191 | Main mint of the usurper Isaac Komnenos. Other mints were also established on the island.[31][36] | |
| Perugia | 552/553 | P | Attribution conjectural,[14] now generally dismissed.[26] |
| Philadelphia | 1188–1189, 14th century | ΦΛΔΦ | First coinage during the short-lived usurpation of Theodore Mangaphas in 1188–1189.[37] 14th-century coins bearing the mark ΦΛΔΦ have been attributed to the city, which at the time and until its fall in 1390 was a Byzantine exclave surrounded by Turkish territory.[38] |
| Philippopolis | 1092 and a few years after | Active during the early years of the monetary reforms of Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118). Adrianople has also been suggested as an alternative site.[31][39] | |
| Ravenna | ca. 540 to early 8th cent. | RAV, RA, RAB, RAVEN, RAVENNA | Extant until the fall of the Exarchate of Ravenna to the Lombard kingdom in 752.[40] |
| Rhodes | ca. 1232 to ca. 1248 | Local coinage of the two brothers Leo Gabalas and John Gabalas, autonomous rulers of Rhodes and nearby islands.[41] | |
| Rome | ca. 540 to ca. 750 | ROM, ROMA, ROMOB, | Theoretically until ca. 751, when Rome and the Pope broke away from Byzantine overlordship, but already under effective papal control from the 7th century.[42] |
| Salona | ca. 535 and thereafter | Location probable, but not certain; active only during the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565)[17][22] | |
| Sardinia | ca. 695 to after 717 | S | Established, probably at Cagliari, through the transfer of the mint of Carthage in 692/693 or 695, it is attested until the reign of Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741)[14][43] |
| Seleucia Isauria | ca. 615–616 | SELISU, SEL | Established to cover military needs in the war against Persia. Transferred to Isaura in 617.[14][29] |
| Syracuse | after 643/644 to 878 | SECILIA, CVΡΑΚΟVCI | Active from ca. 643/644 to its fall to the Arabs in 878, sometimes supplemented by Catania. Prior to that, coins struck at Constantinople were transferred to the island where they were marked SC[L].[24][44] |
| Thebes | second half of the 12th century | Attribution is conjectural, it concerns a mint established to mint half-tetartera for the joint themes of Hellas and the Peloponnese. Corinth and Athens are alternative proposed sites. Solidly attested from the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180) until the first reign of Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195), it may have been established as early as ca. 1092.[17][45] | |
| Thessalonica | 330–629/630, late 11th to mid-14th cent. | TES, ΘΕC, ΘΕS, THESSOB, TESOB, THSOB | Active from before Diocletian, who made it the mint of the Diocese of Moesia. Later it was the main mint for the Diocese of Macedonia and the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum, until 629/630.[17][46] Reactivated by Alexios I Komnenos. From 1204 to 1224 active as the mint of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, from then until the Nicaean conquest in 1246 as the mint of the "empire" of Thessalonica. Last identifiable coins are dated to 1369–1387.[47] |
| Trebizond | late 11th to mid-12th cent., ca. 1230–1461 | Local issue by the Gabras family, semi-independent rulers of Chaldia in the late 11th/early 12th cent.[36] From the reign of Andronikos I Megas Komnenos (r. 1222–1235) on the mint for the Empire of Trebizond.[48] |
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