The currency of the Byzantine Empire changed several times throughout its history. From roughly AD 330 to AD 1080, the standard coins of the Empire were the gold solidus (known in medieval Byzantium as the nomisma) and the bronze nummus (which later became known as the follis). Around the time of the Arab Invasions (c. AD 620), Emperor Heraclius also introduced the silver hexagramma, which was later transformed into the miliaresion, issued by Leo III the Isaurian in the early 700s. The nomisma, the miliaresion, and the follis were the three principal coins of Middle Byzantium up until the start of the Komnenian restoration circa AD 1081.

Originally, the solidus was introduced during the time of Constantine I as a replacement for the old Roman aureus - it contained approximately 4.5 grams of gold and had a purity of around 97%. For nearly 700 years, it remained unchanged as the "gold standard" of the Roman/Byzantine Empire. While slight adjustments were made over the years, the coin remained remarkably constant - so constant, in fact, that like old Roman coinage, Byzantine coinage could be found in virtually every corner of early Medieval Europe. But despite a long and successful run, by the 10th-Century, the Empire was in desperate need of an economic overhaul in order to support a number of renewed offensives against a multitude of invaders. This was the first time in nearly 400 years that the Byzantine state was prepared to take back the lands it had lost during the Arab Invasions, and it needed funds to support these endeavors.

In an attempt to incite economic growth to stimulate the military might of Byzantium for the aforementioned purposes, Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. AD 963-969) slightly changed the traditional coinage system with the issuing of a new coin, called the tetarteron. This new gold coin was essentially a cheaper version of the solidus (4 grams, instead of the full 4.5), it was perhaps designed to be more useful for everyday market transactions. In the century that followed this issue, there were two types of solidi: the histamenon nomisma (full solidus), and the tetarteron nomisma (cheap solidus). However, since the two coins were made with essentially the same dimensions, and with a rather indistinguishable difference in weight, many citizens became confused, and at first, they were probably not used as intended. During the reign of the pragmatic Basil II (AD 976-1025), this was sorted out when he changed the design of the two coins to be more easily distinguishable.

However, with a long period of decline following the death of Basil in AD 1025, as well as the disastrous Battle of Manzikert in AD 1071, the old Byzantine economic system was no longer sustainable. Following his accession in AD 1028, Romanos III Argyros had attempted to revise the Byzantine economy by massively debasing the coinage. Not only was this severely unpopular (people saw it as an ironic foil to Romanos' exorbitant spending on narcissistic building projects and other frivolous activities), but it also led to noticeable damage to the economy in the long run. With the grand treasury stockpiled by Basil squandered by his incompetent "successors", and lacking a military to protect itself, the Byzantines of the late 1070s were deep on the road to ruin.

But, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos was the man who changed all that. Assuming control on the eve of destruction, Alexios was able to not only defeat the Empire's many foes in battle, but he also did what was necessary to bring the Byzantine economy back to life. With an aggressive economic reform, Alexios issued a completely new set of coinage basing itself on the gold hyperpyron. Basically an attempt at undoing the damage wrought by Romanos III's debasing of the Byzantine coinage in the 1030s, the hyperpyron (roughly translating to "super pure") was named because of its "high" level of refinement. Even with its lofty name, however, the hyperpyron, though almost the same weight as the old solidus (4.45 grams to the old 4.5) was only 85% pure gold, as compared to the original 97%. Alongside the hyperpyron were the aspron trachy, an electrum coin, the billon trachy, made of billon (a non-descript alloy of bronze and silver), a copper-based tetarteron, and finally, a low-quality copper nummion. Despite a general unpopularity amongst the people, Alexios' reforms would prove timely, and would help to restore Byzantine dominance for the next hundred years.

Following the decline of the Komnenoi in AD 1180 and the sack of Constantinople in AD 1204, the hyperpyron remained as the principal coin of the Empire and its various satellite states. However, due to the damage wrought on Constantinople herself, and the waning strength of the Empire as more and more territory fell to the Latins and the Turks, these coins were year-after-year gradually debased, and eventually ceased to be minted by the destitute Imperial treasury by the early 1400s.