Counterstamped Follis of Heraclius Constantinople SBC 883

My belated contribution to the SCL c/s is one of the first auction I ever participated in and surprise....I won this loverly piece.

It was the hard bound red Public Auction, December 7, 1989 in New York City a joint auction by Harlan Berk and Victor England. The official title is as follows:

A Definitive offering of Byzantine Copper Coins
Featuring
An Important European Collection of Coins
of the
Western Mints
and
Several Highly Important American Collections
of
Byzantine Coppers

I'm sure many Byz collectors have this book in their collections, if not there are copies out there, I do recommend it. The last time I saw they were selling for around $20.00 or so. I still love to page through it. I had two copies and gave one to get a new collector started.

For me it was a blessing as the only Byz books I had was a used first edition of Sears Byzantine Coins and their Values first published in 1974, and a brand new copy of the second edition published in 1987. If I remember correctly it was priced at $85.00. I hadn't been rich enough to own the DOC, that came later.

The lot number is 159 and graded "EF for counterstamps, choice dark green patina."
Auction estimate was $150, I won it for $120+juice. I was gobsmacked that I won it and was thrilled to have won such a beautiful coin. For me at that time it was an extravagance, as I was used to finding Byz coins in dealers junk boxes. They were not given any respect so, prices were quite low. Damn, I should have bought more.

The coin weighs in at 9.26 g. and is 28 mm., and struck over a follis of Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine: DOC. 242, MIB. Km5, SB. 883, and Berk 609.

While I'm at it Harlan's blue book Eastern Roman Successors of the Sestertius is worth having as well and very affordable. It features some beautifully finished line drawings by Sherry Paputsa of each coin and, at the end photo's of selected coins. Its a book deserving a place in every Byz library. I believe the publication date is November 26, 1986.

I hope you all enjoy this missive.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Pretty neat! I don't know a darned thing about byzantines, but I do have an SCL Constans II (not counterstamped; rather overstruck).

 

I love it, a restrike over a restrike. Great coin.

 

That OP is truly an exceptional specimen. Lovely strike and hard to find this nice, with both faces intact on the countermark. Nice find, @Black Friar

As a bargain countermark, these can be had fairly cheap if you don't mind a whole lot of ugly.

Here is my SB 883 on a fairly large follis, typical lousy strike:


Byzantine Empire Æ Follis
Heraclius & Her. Constantine
(c. 616-622 A.D.)
Sicilian Mint
Host coin: Nikomedia follis of Maurice Tiberius (?) SB 512.
Counterstamp: Two busts, Heraclius & Her. Constantine facing in circle / SCLs in oval.
SB 883; DOC 242.
(10.27 grams / 30 mm)
eBay April 2019


A similar countermark - here is SB 884 (the SCL has an RTh monogram next to it):


Byzantine Empire Æ Follis
Heraclius & Her. Constantine
(c. 632-641 A.D.)
Sicilian Mint
Host coin: Constantinople follis of Heraclius, SB 810.
Counterstamp: Two busts, Heraclius & Her. Constantine / RTh mongram SCs in circle
SB 884; DOC II part 1 243.
(4.76 grams / 21 x 19 mm)
eBay Aug. 2020

Host Coin Notes:
No legend, Heraclius in military attire and Heraclius Constantine in chlamys standing facing,
no monogram left?] / Large M, ANN[O] left, [cross above], [(date) right], B below, CON in exergue.
SB 810; DOC Type 5a.
Note: this CS often attributed to SB 809 host; but I cannot find listing for this host!

 

Marsyas Mike, I also have a few of these that are not to pretty. Ugly is what drew me to Byz coins and then into Arab/Byz. At heart I am a bargain box raider. I do have a couple ugly SB 810's w/ Sicilian c/s'. Gosh, I really love this hobby. Cheers.

Voila! Ugly coin that called to me.

 

I too hear the call of The Ugly! And as for Byzantine countermarks, the bulk of my collection is made up from one ugly eBay win from a year ago - most, not all are countermarks. I spent days trying to attribute them (which is fun).

 

If you can attribute "ugly" you can attribute anything. Fortunately early Byz Coins were very formulaic so it helped immensely early on. The Latin bits are also a bit of a challenge, the best part? They do qualify as ugly or, as some say "uuugly". Cheers.