nomisma
(nəʊˈmɪzmə)
Pl. nomismata.
[ad. Gr. νόµισµα money, f. νοµίζ-ειν to use customarily, f. νόµος usage, custom.]
= bezant 1.
| 1908 W. Wroth Catal. Imperial Byzantine Coins Brit. Mus. p. lxxiv, Under Alexius I, the nomisma..was issued in several different metals simultaneously. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XV. 699/1 The principal coin, the nomisma, popularly called bezant, was derived from the Roman gold solidus. 1959 E. Pound Thrones xcvii. 24 Vasa Klipped for the people, Lycurgus, nomisma, And ‘limitation is the essence of good nomisma’. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 200/1 Nomisma, the gold coin of the later Byzantine Empire. Usually scyphate in form with types of the Emperor, Christ, the Virgin and saints. |