Burn a hole in your pocket

“Does the hole in the coin affect its value?” Maurizio wondered, worried. “That will probably not be much of an issue, Maurizio. The coin weighs somewhat less than before, but the value is determined by the value of the gold.”, Theophylactos replied. “Piercing of coins was a very common practice all throughout antiquity and the medieval period. The piercing and wearing of Roman coins as ornaments and jewelry can be traced back to the third century in the Roman empire, and perhaps even earlier, where such ornaments were usually stored and passed through generations.” Bendall, S. and Cécile Morrison, “Byzantine ‘Medals’: Coins, Amulets and Piety” in Denis Sullivan, D., Elizabeth A. Fisher, and Stratis Papaioannou eds., Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice-Mary Talbot (2012) 217–218. The question remains whether a Venetian merchant from this period would have access to this golden solidus that was made into a piece of jewelry. The fact is that this coin was not in circulation, but had been kept as part of a Byzantine treasure with which the Venetians were paid. This is how this particular coin could have found its way into the hands of Maurizio “Thus this particular golden coin would not be the first to be pierced, and certainly not the last”, Theophylactos continued. “The piercing of coins was a very religious practice in the Byzantine empire and I can only assume that the hole in this golden coin of Irene was done for that very purpose. The fact that she was anointed a saint for the ending of Iconoclasm might have played a very important role in this regard. In late antiquity coins depicted more and more Christian imagery and there had always been the belief that the image of the emperor held special power. The practice of wearing coins with Christ, the Virgin or saints was also an expression of faith. Bendall, S. and Cécile Morrison, “Byzantine ‘Medals’: Coins, Amulets and Piety” in Denis Sullivan, D., Elizabeth A. Fisher, and Stratis Papaioannou eds., Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice-Mary Talbot (2012), 218 The image of Irene ticked multiple of those boxes, for she was both an emperor and a saint.”

That got Maurizio thinking. “So for all the bad things Irene had done in rising to power, the person wearing this coin remembered her for the good she had done with that power. That is quite beautiful.”