I was pleasantly surprised when I won this Heraclius silver hexagram at the opening bid of $19.99, making it my best deal of the year and a great way to end 2018. Not sure if the mistrikes or the opening bid turned people away but I couldn't say no to an opportunity to possibly get a Byzantine hexagram for a good price. I don't really collect errors and I probably have come across something like this before, but I am surprised at how it was mistruck, with the obverse struck over the reverse on one side and the reverse over the obverse on the other. All I can tell is the hammerman must have been having a bad day or something. I know due to the desperate times these hexagrams were being pumped out with little regard for quality but I guess this just goes to show how badly they needed money to pay the troops and officials. Either way the mistrikes make for a very interesting coin, and I am glad to add this nice piece of Byzantine silver to my collection (and it arrived on the 24th, just in time for Christmas ) It also happens to already be on Wildwinds! According to the text with the photo of my coin, it was offered by The Time Machine in an auction in Oct 1999 where bidding had gone up to at least $114 (coin even came with the TTM insert) . Now, I don't have very many coins that actually have a provenance, so I am happy to have another coin with recent history attached to it. I've always been curious as to how long some of my coins have been above ground being sold and kept in collections. I used to have an Anglo-Saxon styca from an 1800s hoard, but right now my Theodosius I campgate that had been purchased in 1986 seems to be my oldest provenance right now. During the final war between the Romans and Persians in the early 7th century AD, church silver all over the Byzantine Empire was supposedly confiscated to melt down and turned into coins of this new denomination. The reverse legend, Deus adiuta Romanis ("God help the Romans") attest to the very difficult times the Byzantines were facing. They would eventually triumph against the Sassanian Persians, but very soon after this victory would become moot as the Muslim conquests swept the region. So it is no surprise the legend continued into the hexagrams of Constans II. Heraclius (and Heraclius Constantine), Byzantine Empire AR hexagram Obv: dd NN hERACLIUS Et hERA CONSt, Heraclius on left and Heraclius Constantine on right, seated facing on double-throne, each holding cross on globe in right hand, small cross above Rev: dEUS AdIUtA ROmANIS, Cross-potent on globe above three steps; monogram to left, I in left field Date: 615-638 AD Mint: Constantinople Ref: SB 801 22 mm wide, 6 gr. (attribution information from Wildwinds) (photo of my coin from Wildwinds) Please post anything related!
Man, what a deal! I love that mess of a strike, too. Also, what could be more appropriate than receiving ancient church silver on Christmas Eve? Mine, from a couple of years ago, was closer to $99.99.
An interesting overstrike! I like overstrikes and trying to figure out how they were made. I don't have any silver byzantines. John
Thanks for the additional comments/likes! For the record, I don't consider my coin ugly. Its really pretty (I can't get enough of its beautiful blue toning!) and its grown on me even more since I got it (and I liked it a lot to begin with!).
Here's another coin of mine that also owes its existence to the last of the Roman-Persian wars. Khosrau II, Sassanian Empire AE 12 nummi Obv: Facing bust of Khusru II, beardless, wearing chlamys and crown surmounted by a cross; star to left, crescent to right Rev: Cross potent on globe, I to left, B to right Mint: Alexandria Mintmark: ALEZ Date: 618-628 AD Ref: SB 855
