Phocas, Byzantine Emperor 602-610 A.D.
Phocas usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice Tiberius. Phocas' wife, Leonita, was sometimes depicted on some of his coins. Later, Phocas was himself overthrown by Heraclius during a civil war. The war ended in Constantinople, at which time Heraclius personally killed and beheaded Phocas whose body was mutilated, paraded through the capital and burned. Heraclius went on to reign the Byzantine Empire for 31 years…
BYZANTINE NUMMI COINS
Though the Western Roman Empire, with its capital of Rome, finally collapsed in the fifth century, the Eastern Roman Empire with its capital Constantinople, continued for an other thousand years until about 1453 A.D. This era of Roman history is called the Byzantine era. These coins, among many other types of coins, were very different from those struck during Rome’s Imperial period. The featured coins are from the nummi series of coins. The featured coin here is called a follis, the largest of the series, worth 40 nummi. For some perspective, the most valuable coin of the time was the gold solidus worth 420 nummi.
The reverse had a large letter indicating the coin denomination according to numerology (M or mu = 40, K or kappa = 20, I or iota = 10, and E or epsilon = 5). Sometimes the coin's denomination was designated with one or more X's.
This coin was minted in the ancient city of Constantinople in the 3rd (gamma) officina. Here are its attributes:
I have collected Roman coins for many years and have always bought coins from trusted, reputable dealers. The coins I sell are ancient currency minted under the authority of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. The details I describe (emperor, location, legends, etc) are derived from well-known and certified attribution sources. The descriptions are guaranteed accurate as much as the condition of the coin allows. This Guarantee of Authenticity does not make any claim or estimate of the value or grades of the coin(s).
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