TheEast Roman or Byzantine Empire established and operated severalmints throughout its history (330–1453). Aside from the main metropolitan mint in the capital,Constantinople, a varying number of provincial mints were also established in other urban centres, especially during the 6th century. Most provincial mints except forSyracuse were closed or lost to invasions by the mid-7th century. After the loss of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople became the sole mint forgold andsilver coinage until the late 11th century, when major provincial mints began to re-appear. Many mints, both imperial and, as the Byzantine world fragmented, belonging to autonomous local rulers, were operated in the 12th to 14th centuries. Constantinople and Trebizond, the seat of the independentEmpire of Trebizond (1204–1461), survived until their conquest by theOttoman Turks in the mid-15th century.

The originalRoman mint network was reorganized and centralized by EmperorDiocletian (r. 284–305– ) at the end of the 3rd century, parallel to the restructuring of the Roman Empire'sprovincial andfiscal administration. The mints were limited to one perdiocese (except for a few exceptions) and placed under the dual control of thepraetorian prefectures and thecomes 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 Roman Empire. After a law promulgated in 366/369, the minting of precious-metal coins was confined to these comitatensian mints, operating either from a permanent base or by making use of the regional mints nearest to the current location of the emperor and hiscomitatus. Otherwise, regional mints were mostly limited to issuing base-metal coins.^[3]

During the course of the 5th century, the Roman minting system collapsed. Thewestern half of the Roman Empire was overrun byGermanic tribes, although some mints remained active in the West under the new barbarian rulers and continued to mint coins, including high-quality goldsolidi, in the name of the eastern emperors, most notably inOstrogothic Italy andBurgundy.^[4] In theEast, most mints seem to have been active until some time into the reign ofZeno (r. 475–491– ), but by the accession ofAnastasius I (r. 491–518– ) only the mints ofConstantinople andThessalonica remained active.^[5][6] In 498, Anastasius initiated a major coinage reform—carried out by thecomes sacrarum largitionum John the Paphlagonian^[7]—which is held to mark the start of the"Byzantine" coinage system proper. At the same time, he re-opened the mints atNicomedia and later atAntioch.^[5] The number of mints expanded greatly during the reign ofJustinian I (r. 527–565– ), in large part due to his reconquest ofItaly,Africa, andparts of Spain. As many as fourteen mints were active during Justinian's reign, with new mints opened or taken over from theVandals andOstrogoths inCarthage,Rome,Ravenna,Carthagena, and in smaller provincial centres. Most of these were confined tocopper coinage. Ravenna and Carthage alone produced silver coins in quantity, while gold issues were restricted toCatania, Thessalonica, and Constantinople; the latter two cities, however, far outstripped the others in output.^[5][8][9]

The territorial losses of the early 7th century, with theByzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628, theSlavic incursions into theBalkans, and the onset of theMuslim conquests, drastically diminished the number of active mints. In 628/629, EmperorHeraclius (r. 610–641– ) closed all remaining provincial mints in the East except forAlexandria, whichfell to the Arabs in 641. In the West too, one by one the cities hosting the various mints fell to various enemies, until by the 9th century, onlySyracuse remained.^[1][10][11]

With thefall of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople remained the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century. The provincial mint atCherson was reopened c. 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 orCorinth in southern Greece,Philadelphia in the 14th century,Magnesia andNicaea during theEmpire of Nicaea (1204–1261)—were active at times during the Byzantine Empire's last centuries. Usurpers or semi-autonomous local lords also occasionally established mints of their own, likeIsaac Komnenos of Cyprus,Leo Gabalas ofRhodes, or theGabras family ofTrebizond. Constantinople, however, remained the main mint, providing the bulk of the coinage.^[1][12]

• Coins of the Byzantine Empire
• Numismatics-related lists
• Mints (currency)

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