It missed the holiday, but it finally arrived today. An 11th Century Byzantine Anonymous Follis attributed to Romanus III. Overstruck on what looks like an Anonymous Follis Class A2, as Sear said happened fairly frequently. Slabbed and graded NGC Ancients AU with an "overstruck" designation. I bought the coin, not the slab.
Beautiful example! Hard to find ones with the face still intact. The best thing about overstruck Byzantine bronzes is figuring out exactly what happened with them. Awesome that you can recognize the Class A2 undertype! Here's my most recent Anonymous Follis. I haven't quite figured out how the reverse could end up like this yet: Byzantine. Anonymous AE Follis, temp. Basil II with Constantine VIII (976-1025). Obv: Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator; IC-XC across field Rev: +IhS h/XRISTЧ/BASILЄЧ/BASILЄ in four lines. Ref: SB 1813 Prov: Ex Martin Wettmark Error Collection
