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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;robinjojo, post: 8324603, member: 110226&quot;]I find, as I get older, moving rapidly to that time in one&#039;s life where hardware (body) and information processing (brain) becomes increasingly fraught.&nbsp; That which seemed pretty clear and straightforward becomes a bit foggier.&nbsp; So it is, I think, with this question: How can the regnal year on a Byzantine emperor&#039;s follis extend beyond his life?</p><p><br /></p><p>The case here is Maurice Tiberius, Byzantine emperor, who reigned from 582 to 602 AD.&nbsp; In 602 he was engaged in an uprising led by his eventual successor, Phocas.&nbsp; The rebellion culminated in the crowning of Phocas on November 23, 602, followed two days later with his entry into Constantinople. Maurice Tiberius and his sons were captured, sent to the harbor of Eutropius at Chalcedon, where he was forced to watch his five younger sons executed before he was beheaded himself.&nbsp; Maurice Tiberius&#039; wife, Constantina and daughters were sent to a monastery.&nbsp; A few years later, upon the accusation that Constantina was conspiring against Phocas, she and her three daughters, Anastasia, Theoctista and Cleopatra were executed at the harbor of Eutropius in 605 AD.&nbsp; Such was the tragic end of Maurice Tiberius and his family.&nbsp; It&#039;s the stuff of a Shakespearian historical tragedy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, getting to the coins, I was ordering a regnal year 20 (601/2) follis, when I noticed one for sale with regnal year 21.&nbsp; Regnal year 21?&nbsp; Brain fog sets in.&nbsp; How could this be?&nbsp; So, I ordered the regnal year 21 follis as well; why not?&nbsp; The more the merrier.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are two regnal year 20 folles (I&#039;m missing Constantinople):</p><p><br /></p><p>Cyzicus</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1474981[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Antioch</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1474982[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s the RY 21 follis from Antioch:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1474987[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So, here&#039;s my theory.&nbsp; The rebellion and the execution of Maurice Tiberius must have spilled over into regnal year 21.&nbsp; Apparently the Antioch Mint prepared a RY 21 reverse since Maurice Tiberius was still emperor.&nbsp; I don&#039;t think there are very many of these RY 21 folles around, since I assume they were recalled by the mint and melted shortly after his death and the usurpation of Phocas to the throne.&nbsp; None of the other mints, to my knowledge issued a RY 21 follis for Maurice Tiberius, so Antioch is the only mint to do this.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess it is not really such a conundrum after all.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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