The term had no meaning to the inhabitants of the Empire who simple considered themselves 'Roman'. The Byzantine Empire was known for political complexity, intrigue and mystery.
Byzantine art is formal and ornate.
The coins we examine this week are certainly most 'Byzantine'. A prime requirement for the production of an issue of coins is a supply of metal on which to strike. Most mints used newly mined metal but a number of issues were produced from the recycling of older coins. When this was accomplished by melting and recasting new flans this would require complex trace element testing to detect. Our subjects this week were produced by overstriking directly on older coins.