Zeus Numismatics
Auction 10 12 Jul 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Lead seal of Stephanos patrikios and kommerkiarios apothekes of Caesarea, Cappadokia in Asia Minor, under Constans II (ca 659-668),
as in photos, with nice reddish patina and completely legible inscription.
Obverse: Facing busts of Constans II, with long beard, on the left, and Constantine IV, on the right, both wearing crown and chlamys and holding globus cruciger in their right hands, underneath inscription in 3 lines, +CTЄΦAN૪ ΠAT/PIKI/૪ K(AI) KOMM.
Reverse: Facing busts of Heraclius, on the left, and Tiberius, on the right, both wearing crown and chlamys and holding globus cruciger in their right hands, underneath inscription in 3 lines, EPKIAPI૪ A/ΠOΘHK(HC)KE/CΑΡΙΑC.
Total inscription: + Στεφάνου πατρικίου καὶ κομμερκιαρίου ἀποθήκης Καισαρείας (Of Stephanos patrikios and kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Caesarea).
A large and impressive seal with four imperial portraits!
For a similar seal of the same owner cf. Zacos/Veglery 142. Zacos/Veglery have summarized Stephanos' career of in their Table 1 on p. 145: he is attested in 659-668 as kommerkiarios in the warehouses of Abydos, Helenopontos and..., and in the First and Second Cappadocia. "Apothekai" were places where taxes in kind were collected and stored, and which served as centers for trade and exchange of goods. They were headed by kommerkiarioi, who were assigned to their lucrative position for a fixed period of time (usually one year), and who were the only officials entitled to use imperial portraits on their seals apart from the emperor himself.
Condition: Very Fine
Weight: 31.20 gr
Diameter: 35 mm
as in photos, with nice reddish patina and completely legible inscription.
Obverse: Facing busts of Constans II, with long beard, on the left, and Constantine IV, on the right, both wearing crown and chlamys and holding globus cruciger in their right hands, underneath inscription in 3 lines, +CTЄΦAN૪ ΠAT/PIKI/૪ K(AI) KOMM.
Reverse: Facing busts of Heraclius, on the left, and Tiberius, on the right, both wearing crown and chlamys and holding globus cruciger in their right hands, underneath inscription in 3 lines, EPKIAPI૪ A/ΠOΘHK(HC)KE/CΑΡΙΑC.
Total inscription: + Στεφάνου πατρικίου καὶ κομμερκιαρίου ἀποθήκης Καισαρείας (Of Stephanos patrikios and kommerkiarios of the apotheke of Caesarea).
A large and impressive seal with four imperial portraits!
For a similar seal of the same owner cf. Zacos/Veglery 142. Zacos/Veglery have summarized Stephanos' career of in their Table 1 on p. 145: he is attested in 659-668 as kommerkiarios in the warehouses of Abydos, Helenopontos and..., and in the First and Second Cappadocia. "Apothekai" were places where taxes in kind were collected and stored, and which served as centers for trade and exchange of goods. They were headed by kommerkiarioi, who were assigned to their lucrative position for a fixed period of time (usually one year), and who were the only officials entitled to use imperial portraits on their seals apart from the emperor himself.
Condition: Very Fine
Weight: 31.20 gr
Diameter: 35 mm