Billon (alloy) in the context of Abbad II al-Mu'tadid

The antoninianus or pre-reform radiate was a coin used during the Roman Empire thought to have been valued at 2 denarii. It was initially silver, but was slowly debased to bronze with a minimal silver content. The coin was introduced by Caracalla in early 215 AD. It was silver, similar to the denarius, except that it was slightly larger and featured the emperor wearing a radiate crown, indicating it was a double denomination. Antoniniani depicting women (usually the emperor's wife) featured the bust resting upon a crescent moon.

Even at its introduction, the silver content of the antoninianus was only equal to 1.5 denarii. This created inflation: people rapidly hoarded the denarii (Gresham's law), while both buyers and sellers recognized the new coin had a lower intrinsic value and elevated their prices to compensate. Silver bullion supplies began running short because the Roman Empire was no longer conquering new territory, the Iberian silver mines had been exhausted, and a series of soldier emperors and usurpers needed coin to pay their troops and buy their loyalty. Each new issue of the antoninianus thus had less silver in it than the last, and thus contributed to ever-increasing inflation.

Histamenon (Greek: ἱστάμενον [νόμισμα], histámenon [nómisma] lit. 'standard coin') was the name given to the gold Byzantine solidus when the slightly lighter tetarteron was introduced in the 960s. To distinguish the two, the histamenon was changed in form from the original solidus, becoming wider and thinner, as well as concave (scyphate) in form. Later usually shortened to stamenon (Greek: στάμενον), it was discontinued after 1092. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the name stamenon came to be applied to the concave billon and copper trachea coins.

Francesco I Gattilusio (died 6 August 1384) was the first member of the Gattilusio family to rule the Aegean island of Lesbos as a vassal of the Byzantine emperor.

The term trachy (Greek: τραχύ), plural trachea (τραχέα), meaning "rough" or "uneven", was used to describe the cup-shaped (incorrectly often called "scyphate") Byzantine coins struck in the 11th–14th centuries. The term was properly applied to coins of electrum, billon, or copper, but not to the gold hyperpyra. The coin was devalued as the alloy mixture had less silver over time.

During the short lifespan of the feudal Crusader state, the Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204–1261) also used the trachy.