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NYINC Signature Sale 3071  6-7 Jan 2019
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Lot 33307

Estimate: 3000 USD
Price realized: 4200 USD
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Ancients
Philippicus (Bardanes) (AD 711-713). AV solidus (21mm, 4.42 gm, 6h). NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5, edge mark. Constantinople, 10th officina. ∂N FILЄPICЧS-MЧL-TЧS AN, crowned facing bust of Philippicus, wearing loros, globus cruciger in right hand, scepter surmounted by eagle with spread wings and wearing cross in left / VICTORIA-AVςЧ I, cross potent set upon three steps; CONOB below. Sear 1449. DOC 3b. MIB 3. Rare! A nearly perfect specimen, crisply struck from fresh dies and fully lustrous.

One of a debilitating string of short-lived rulers from the early eighth century, Bardanes was a general of Armenian origins who was proclaimed emperor upon the final overthrow of Justinian II. Almost immediately, he alienated the clergy and populace by reviving the Monothelete heresy (proposing that Christ had a single, divine nature and will) which had supposedly been stamped out decades previously. He was also unsuccessful in stopping Arab and Bulgarian advances, prompting the Byzantine army to depose and blind him after 18 months of ineffective rule. He was replaced by the finance minister Artemius, who reigned as Anastasius II. This extraordinary piece shows the unusually fine artistry employed on the coinage for so ephemeral a reign, showing the emperor holding two symbols of office dating back to Roman times: The globus cruciger and scipio aquila, a scepter topped by an eagle.


HID02901242017

Estimate: 3000-4000 USD
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