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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Curtis, post: 24840905, member: 26430&quot;]I love the Irene and Constantine VI follis! I&#039;d certainly be thrilled to have that one in my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>And, yes, those are definitely usually expensive and in very high demand! It&#039;s one of the most dramatic chapters in Byzantine history.</p><p><br /></p><p>She became the first sole-ruler Empress of the Roman/Byzantine Empire. She usurped and had her own son blinded (who then died), and then was herself later usurped and blinded (and then died).</p><p><br /></p><p>As empress, she refused to marry Charlemagne, culminating in the final schism between Roman West and Byzantine East, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_two_emperors" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_two_emperors" rel="nofollow">&quot;<i>Zweikaiserproblem</i>&quot; or &quot;two Emperors problem&quot;</a>. (In fact, the Zweikaiserproblem page on Wikipedia shows the AV Solidus version of Irene/Constantine VI.)</p><p><br /></p><p>In 2020 Mike Markowitz wrote a nice little article explaining why they&#039;re so popular:</p><blockquote><p><a href="https://coinweek.com/byzantine-coinage-of-the-empress-irene-coinweek-ancient-coin-series/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coinweek.com/byzantine-coinage-of-the-empress-irene-coinweek-ancient-coin-series/" rel="nofollow">https://coinweek.com/byzantine-coinage-of-the-empress-irene-coinweek-ancient-coin-series/</a></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>One quote I recalled:</p><blockquote><p>&quot;A dealer once told me that if he had a hundred Irene solidi, he could sell them all in an afternoon.&quot;</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m sure it&#039;s much the same for the AE Follis -- especially this type w/ portraits of both Irene and Constantine. I&#039;d like to have one of these, and then one of her later Solidi in which she appears on <i>both </i>sides!![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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