This is a solidus (22 mm, 4.7 g) of Theodosius II (402-450) minted in Constantinople: From: https://www.biddr.com/auctions/nnlondon/browse?a=2649&l=2981656 As you all know a byzantine Solidus should have a weight of 4.5 gram or perhaps a little, little, litte bit under when struck and not clipped/filed. But not over. But this Solidus has a weight of 4.7 gram! This is first time I have encountered a coin which weight so much. I just want to ask you how often it occur that Solidus more than 4.5 gram are on auctions? Does it occur sporadically? Have a nice day.
I went to sixbid.com archive to look up your question, it would seem most are under 4.5 gm . I do not look on all listings but I saw none over 4.5gm
Being overweight is just as big of a red flag as unexplained underweight. People didn't muck around when minting gold. As others have suggested, verify the weight. If it is 4.7g, steer clear. P.S. - perhaps it's a typo, and was supposed to be either 4.37 or 4.47g
Many of the coins in this auction look ok, but they don't provide even basic references. That alone would make me uncomfortable. What exactly are you paying a 20% bidder's fee for?
I read the above, noted the double quoted COMOB, and was confused. Then I looked at the coin image again, verified that it did read COMOB, and I got even more puzzled. So... Are you saying that COMOB is an cataloguer error and it should be CONOB instead? Surely not. The weight of 4.7g is likely inaccurate. But still solidi with weighing 4.6 to 4.7g are known. Please see this weight frequency table below from RIC 8.
Sorry, my mistake re COMOB. I could have sworn it said CONOB. And I had not heard of Solidi over 4.6g before, so thanks for sharing the table above.
Looks to be a legitimate Constantinople mint product to me. And I think it does say CONOB. Here is a coin of Theodosius II, a prior issue, from Constantinople. Same cross patée look to the XXX, even some ambiguity on CONOB versus COMOB.
I still think the OP coin reads COMOB instead of CONOB. Especially when the image is enlarged. But leaving that aside, COMOB and CONOB are both known for solidi of Theodosius II. It does not appear to be a glaring error on the part of the cataloguer.
The ideal weight for a solidus should be 4.54 gm, but this is rarely seen. My solidus of Justinian I is one of those rare examples. The solidus in question has a deep gash on the reverse that could be a crude test cut, implying that someone else questioned the authenticity of the coin ...
