Here is an overstrike for sale. It is a large coin, 28 mm and 10.50 grams, with good reddish patina and good depth of strike: At this orientation you can easily see the overtype, Heraclius and Son (AD 610-641), with M over NIK for Nicomedia, B for second officina, year II/II. There is lots of legible lettering around, too. Sear 834. So far, it might be a better than typical Heraclius from Nicomedia. But wait! The lettering to the left is weak, but beginning at 11:30 is clear: dNMAVRICV....which is a legend of Maurice that should begin at about 7:00! Flip it over with that in mind we can see something of the reverse. Where is the understrike? If the top of the M were at 5:00, you could see that its left diagonal is cut by an exergal line of an undertype with ... UP below, for Theopolis, which was the new name of Antioch. So, the undertype is a Maurice (AD 582-602) at Antioch, much like DO 161-173 = Sear 533. It is a pretty remarkable obverse to have such a clear design of one emperor with a clear legend of another! Including shipping in the US, $27, reduced to $23 SOLD. For more Byzantine coins for sale, see http://augustuscoins.com/Byzantine.html Thanks!
