Byzantine Bronze Coin of Cyzicus Issued by Constans

337-340

5/8 x 9/16 x 1/16 in. (1.56 x 1.46 x 0.1 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• bronze - Refers to a broad range of alloys of copper, specifically any non-ferrous alloy of copper, tin, and zinc or other trace metals. Bronze was made before 3,000 BCE -- possibly as early as 10,000 BCE, although its common use in tools and decorative items is dated only in later artifacts. The proportions of copper and tin vary widely, from 70 to 95 percent copper in surviving ancient artifacts. Because of the copper base, bronze may be very malleable and easy to work. By the Middle Ages in Europe, it was recognized that using the metals in certain proportions could yield specific properties. Some modern bronzes contain no tin at all, substituting other metals such as aluminum, manganese, and even zinc. Historically, the term was used interchangeably with "latten." U.S. standard bronze is composed of 90% copper, 7% tin and 3% zinc. Ancient bronze alloys sometimes contained up to 14% tin.
• Byzantine - Culture, style, and period of the Christian states of the eastern Mediterranean during the rule of the Byzantine Empire (330 - 1453 CE). Byzantine art and culture was carried throughout much of the Christian world, and lasted into the 16th century in eastern Europe. The style is characterized by imperial and religious subject matter, and a movement away from the original Greek naturalistic forms to favor ritualistic stylization, intended to suggest the spiritual. For the culture and style of the Italian and western Mediterranean Christian world roughly from the third to the mid-ninth century CE, use "Early Christian."
• coins - Pieces of metal stamped by government authority for use as money.
• shields - General term for armor pieces carried in the hand or on the arm, used to parry an opponent's blows or provide shelter from projectiles. They have existed worldwide throughout history in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and materials.
• soldiers - Generally refers to those belonging to an army, whether that of a sovereign state, a faction or division within a sovereign state, or of an individual leader. Specifically refers to military personnel of enlisted rank, as distinguished from commissioned officers. For those trained for or engaged in the physical combat of warfare and sanctioned in that function by the society or group for which they fight, irrespective of actual membership in an army, see "warriors."
• standards - Flags, banners, figures, or other objects displayed or carried as an identifying symbol or rallying-point of a leader, public officer, organization, etc. Examples include banners of noble houses, flags of nations, and the colors of a military unit.