Nomos AG
Auction 25 20 Nov 2022
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Aelia Verina, Augusta, 457-484. Solidus (Gold, 20 mm, 4.51 g, 5 h), struck under her husband, Leo I, Constantinople, Z = 7th officina, 471 or 473. AEL YERI-NA AVG Pearl-diademed and draped bust of Aelia Verina to right; above, manus Dei holding nimbus. Rev. VICTORI - A AVGGGZ / CONOB Victory standing to left, holding long, jewelled cross with her right hand; in the field to right, 8-pointed star. Depeyrot 2. MIRB 4. RIC 631. Rare. Well-struck and well-centered. Light graffito X in the obverse field, otherwise, extremely fine.
From an American collection, acquired prior to 2005.
Verina was quite a tough character. She was the wife of the emperor Leo I (457-474) and the sister of the totally incompetent usurper Basiliscus (475-476), who seized the throne from Leo I's grandson, Leo II, and his father Zeno, who was married to Leo I's daughter Ariadne. Verina, who had initially supported Zeno, turned against him because he refused to support her remarriage to an aristocrat name Patricius. Then, after supporting helping her brother gain the throne, he executed Patricius. Needless to say, she re-allied herself to Zeno and Ariadne. After this ensued a very complicated series of alliances and betrayals that ended up with Verina dying in the fortress of Papyrius in Isauria, probably in 484, where she was pent up with the usurpers Illus and Leontius. After the stronghold fell Verina's body was sent back to Ariadne and the heads of Illus and Leontius were shipped to Zeno.
From an American collection, acquired prior to 2005.
Verina was quite a tough character. She was the wife of the emperor Leo I (457-474) and the sister of the totally incompetent usurper Basiliscus (475-476), who seized the throne from Leo I's grandson, Leo II, and his father Zeno, who was married to Leo I's daughter Ariadne. Verina, who had initially supported Zeno, turned against him because he refused to support her remarriage to an aristocrat name Patricius. Then, after supporting helping her brother gain the throne, he executed Patricius. Needless to say, she re-allied herself to Zeno and Ariadne. After this ensued a very complicated series of alliances and betrayals that ended up with Verina dying in the fortress of Papyrius in Isauria, probably in 484, where she was pent up with the usurpers Illus and Leontius. After the stronghold fell Verina's body was sent back to Ariadne and the heads of Illus and Leontius were shipped to Zeno.