Nomos 18

Basiliscus, 475-476. Solidus (Gold, 20.5 mm, 4.47 g, 6 h), Constantinople, early-mid 475. D N bASILIS-CUS P P AVG Diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Basiliscus facing, his head turned slightly to the right, holding spear in his right hand and with shield ornamented with rider over his left shoulder. Rev. VICTORIA AVGGG / CONOB Victory standing left, holding a long jeweled cross; to right, star. Depeyrot 101/1. MIRB 1a. RIC 1001. Vagi 3825. Rare. Clear and attractive. Graffito in the form of a cross on the obverse, and some very slight flatness and traces of overstriking, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

The graffito on the obverse of this coin may be more than just a random mark solely of significance to its maker. However, the way it is positioned makes it look rather like a cross-scepter, going over the emperor's left shoulder; and this may be exactly what it was intended to be. By the 5th century Christian fervor embraced vast swathes of the Late Roman world: it was a period in which physical signs of paganism (temples, sculptures, paintings, writings, etc.) were being either Christianized (crosses cut into the foreheads of portrait sculpture) or destroyed (vast amounts of Classical literature was burnt during this period). Thus, the scratching of crosses or Greek Χs (the initial letter of the name of Christ) into the obverse fields of solidi bearing imperial portraits would be a way of ensuring the Christian orthodoxy of the obverse in the same way the long cross held by Victory does for the reverses.