Byzantine Justinian 16 Nummi from Thessalonica - Odd Variety?

I recently got my first Byzantine Justinian I 16 nummi from Thessalonica. It has a pretty rough obverse, but the reverse is pretty decent. Attribution is a puzzle - I have gone over the usual online sources and cannot find one matching mine, for the following three reasons:

1. The letters across the top: θ (Theta) Є (Epsilon) ω (Omega?). SB 182A and 183 have similar letters above, but not this match.

2. The final extra "I" (so the big letters read AISPI): SB183 has a final Ψ (psi), but mine is clearly an "I" (iota).

3. The big S has a very prominent dot in the upper curve. Couldn't find any others with this.

Any Byzantine experts out there seen one like this? And please post your 16 nummi or anything else Byzantine Weird. These oddball denominations are interesting - I found an academic paper making a case for these being issued for Justinian's Gothic Wars
http://www.academia.edu/27183640/The_Gothic_War_and_Justinians_Unusual_Thessalonican_Coins
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Byzantine Empire 16 Nummi
Justinian I (c. 538-552 A.D.)
Thessalonica Mint
[DN IV]STINI[ANVS P P AVG] draped and cuirassed bust right / Large I with A-SPI to left & right dot within S (resembling AISPI), θЄω above, mint TЄS below.
SB 182A? (similar).
(5.32 grams / 21 mm)
(Struck for Gothic Wars?)

 

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I'm unfamiliar with this denomination and used the opportunity to look through the now publicly available Dumbarton Oaks Collection books. None of the Justinian I Thessalonica 16 nummi are like yours. I looked in the other usual archives as I'm sure you did... nada.

Interesting! I hope someone here can shed some light on it.

 

It's listed in Sear Byzantine as no.186A: Large I with A to left, S-P-I to right, θεω above; TES in exergue

Sear lists 17 different varieties (I'm sure there are more than this) of these 16 nummi types from Thessalonika, some are quite common but others like yours are a bit scarcer. The dot after the S is somewhat odd for these.

 

Thank you so much, TIF and Brian. I do appreciate the assistance. This was one of those cheap "lot" coins I tend to buy - in hand, I found it far more interesting than I thought it would be. It was fun researching it, but I was really stumped.

 

Here's another weird Byzantine coin which was struck at Constantinople's under Emperor Justinian I as well. I believe it was over struck. Indeed, can we say : As weird as a Byzantine coin.