Another Byzantine coin has made its way to me. That's what seems to happen when I keep pressing that "purchase" button. Nicephorus II isn't too well known (many Byzantine emperors haven't obtained the cultural status of the earlier Roman emperors, but many are just as interesting, if not as accomplished) and he didn't rule for very long, but he did recapture Antioch for the empire. But he met the fate of many Byzantine emperors in being assassinated, but sadly by someone who was apparently having an affair with his own empress. That person, John I Tzimiskes, then ruled for about 7 years before expiring, some say by poison. So it went in that tumultuous and often pretty cruel empire. Nicephorus II, Phocas (963-969); Constantinople Æ Follis; Obv: +nICIFR bASIL ROM, Facing bust holding labarum and cross on globe; Rev: +nICHF / Eh TEW bA / SILEVS RW / mAIWh in four lines; 6.58g. Berk-943, Sear 1782
