I've had this coin for a long time and am just now getting around to a proper identification. It came from a hoard of several hundred mostly folles from the 7th century. For those unfamiliar with 7th c. Byzantine identification the reverse gives almost all the information, but I'll start with the obverse. It has two figures of Heraclius and his son, nothing unusual except for the green spot which is probably stabilized BD. The reverse has a large M designating it as a follis, CON in the exergue showing it was minted in Constantinople, ANNO to the left meaning 'year', and B below the M indicating it was minted by the 2nd officina for that particular mint. All of this is very normal and there are probably tens of thousands with the same markings in existence. Now there are 2 devices left on this reverse, the symbol above the M and the markings on the right. Byzantine years are determined by the regnal year of the emperor, in this case Heraclius. Numbers are straight forward I = 1, X = 10, same as roman numerals. The exception are u = 5, and Ϛ = 6. Combine them to make larger numbers i.e. XXIII = 23. OK we know Heraclius ruled from 610 to 641 AD, a fairly long run. That means we know(at least for Folles, because other denoms don't always use this numbering system) that year 1 = 610/611 AD, X = 619/620 AD and so on. The last possible year can be 31 or 640/641 AD. I noticed something very very strange with his bronze coinage that someone may(hopefully) can answer is that I can not find one example from year 638/639 AD. I searched through the entire Dumbarton Oaks Cataloge and could not find one single bronze coin from that year regardless of mint. There are a few gold issues and even those had a ? next to the year. Any history buffs know if anything unusual happened in those years? And lastly the symbol on my coin has a Theta above the M which I am unable to find as well. Either I have stumbled upon something or I missed something. I welcome ALL opinions on this subject. Heraclius 638/639 AD AE Follis, Constantinople Obvs: No legend. Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine standing with cross between them. Revs: Large M, Θ above, B below. ANNO to left, XX IϚ II right(29). CON in ex 23x25mm, 4.7g DOC -, SB -, Grierson - Pile on your Byzantines!!!!!!!!
Isn't XXIII = 23? Or is there a "U" and another "I" somewhere that I can't see? As to the mystery of 638/639, I'm guessing it has to do with the chaotic and unstable conditions for the empire at the time. Its economy was wrecked from the just concluded Byzantine-Sassanian war, and only a few years later the Byzantines were being invaded again, this time by the Muslims. By 638, the Byzantines had already lost the entire Levant, and Egypt was next. Again, this is only my guess.
These are usually in terrible form. It is XX IϚ II Yes I'm sure invasions were taking place, I'm curious how it affected the output of bronze coinage.
As a sanity check I found these for reference. I apologize to whomever these coins belong, these are not mine and belong to http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1217 Year 23. X X II I Year 24. X X II II I am very impressed with their gallery as it has most every renal year (except 29).
For a reason I'll never understand the Byzantine mind allowed u as 5 but curled over the top to make Ϛ or 6. Below is a year 9 or 6+3 of Maurice Tiberius. .
I should mention that I contacted David Sear after I posted this and he verified that it is year 29. This particular year is unpublished an no bronze dated issues from Constantinople are known to exist except for this one. I assume some of that has to do with the poor striking of these?
Very interesting coin and great research. Here is my only Heraclius. Heraclius (AD 610-641) & Heraclius Constantine (AD 613-641). AV solidus (14.27 mm 4.46 gm). XF. Carthage, Indictional Year 9, 1st cycle (AD 620/1). OBV: D N ЄRACLIO ЄT ЄRACOS P P Θ, facing busts of Heraclius, with short beard (on left) and Heraclius Constantine, smaller and beardless (on right), each wearing chlamys and crown, cross in field above Rev: VICTORI-A AVGG Θ, cross potent on three steps; CONOB in exergue. Sear 867. Ex: Heritage Auctions September 14, 2017
I'm impressed this turned out to be so rare! Nice find, and thanks for updating your post with the confirmation from Sear. Maybe now that we know it exists, there will be a few others surfacing, previously thought to have wonky "I"s. Here's my scarcest Heraclius, a year 1 follis from Nikomedia:
Very interesting thread! I have only added a small handful of Byzantine coins to my collection and they are not in great shape. This is a great post. Congrats on a rare find.
