68

ARAB-BYZANTINE: AV solidus (4.27g), NM, ND

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:32,500.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
ARAB-BYZANTINE: AV solidus (4.27g), NM, ND
SOLD
50,000.00USD+ buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2015 Sep 10 @ 09:45UTC-7 : PDT/MST
Pre-sale bidding is available on our website, www.stevealbum.com, and is also available via email. You can find bidding instructions here: http://db.stevealbum.com/php/how-to-bid.php

We reserve the right to adjust the opening bid levels higher (or lower) than they are currently set. If you have any questions, please contact us.

All session and break times are estimated and are subject to fluctuation. Please plan accordingly.
ARAB-BYZANTINE: AV solidus (4.27g), NM, ND, A-3548.2, Miles (1967), Plate XLV:4, Bernardi-2, large & small facing busts, short beards / horizontal bar on steps, degenerate Greek text, officina letters AT after AYGG on reverse, with Greek letter I left of the steps on reverse (for the number 10, perhaps an indiction year or the caliphal year of Mu'awiya), choice EF, RRRR. Derived from the second series of Heraclius (610-641) & his son Constantine, struck 613-629. The crosses atop the crowns replaced by globes, the cross in the field removed, the cross on the steps replaced by a horizontal bar. Current evidence seems to verify the theory that these imitations of Byzantine coins were official issues under the authority of the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiyah I (661-680). They are of excellent style, despite the somewhat barbarous Greek legends, too well engraved to be the casual production of unofficial mints. There is also a remarkable reference in a contemporary Syrian document, "The Maronite Chronicle", which states that the caliph Mu'awaiya "minted gold and silver, but it was not accepted, because it had no cross on it".