ABSTRACT
According to Aristotle, the addition of a type to a coin is a means and sign of its value: ὁ γὰρ χαρακτὴρ ἐτέθη τοῦ piοσοῦ σημεῖον.6 It does not mean that it tells how many units it is worth, such indications being rare on ancient and medieval coins, but it assures that whatever its quantitative value, this is guaranteed by the ruler. is ancient rule was still valid and invoked in Byzantine legislation. In his Novel 52, Leo VI declared:
Similarly the Book of the Eparch demanded that the trapezites acccept at its value of 24 obols any miliaresion το ἀκίβδηλον τὀν βασιλικὸν ἔχον χαρακτήρα καὶ μὴ
5 Variae 6.7, MGH AA, XII, 180-1: Verum hanc liberalitatem nostram alio decoras obsequio, ut gura vultus nostri metallis usualibus inprimatur, monetamque facis de nostris temporibus futura saecula commonere …ut et imago principum subiectos videretur pascere per commercium, quorum consilia invigilare non desinunt pro salute cunctorum. I amended the translation oered by M. Hendy in e Economy, Fiscal Administration and Coinage of Byzantium (Northampton, 1989), art. VI, 1-2, relying on an (unpublished) one which I owe to the kindness of Jean-Pierre Callu: ‘Tu imprimes sur les métaux d’usage les traits de notre egie et tu appelles la monnaie à rappeler notre règne aux siècles futurs … l’image des princes dont la sagesse ne cesse de veiller pour tous, paraît, elle aussi, nourrir leurs sujets par le commerce’.
