A gold coin of Byzantium or Constantinople, varying in weight and value, usually (those current in England) between a sovereign and a half sovereign. There were also white or silver bezants.
A circle in or, i. e., gold, representing the gold coin called bezant.
A decoration of a flat surface, as of a band or belt, representing circular disks lapping one upon another.
A coin first struck at Byzantium (in other words Constantinople). There were gold bezants, varying in value between a sovereign and a half-sovereign, and silver ones worth from a florin to a shilling. (Shaw, M.R.B. Joinville & Villehardouin: Chronicles of the Crusades, 361)
n. a yellow or gold circular disc.
a gold coin of the Byzantine Empire; widely circulated in Europe in the Middle Ages
A gold coin from Byzantium.
Bezants is a medieval name for gold coins. Gold coins were not minted in early medieval Western Europe with silver and bronze being the currency of choice, but they did circulate there in small numbers, originating from the Mediterranean region, in particular Islamic and Byzantine gold coins were highly prized. These gold coins were commonly called bezants, taken from the word Byzantium, the Latinized form of the original Greek name (Βυζάντιον or "Byzántion") of the capital, Constantinople, where the gold coins typically came from and were associated with since the time of Constantine.