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20 Nummi - Phocas Constantinopolis
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 602-610 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of Emperor Phocas, depicted wearing imperial consular robes and a crown, with the characteristic stylized frontal portrait typical of early seventh-century Byzantine coinage. The effigy is rendered in a hieratic, flat style with limited relief, consistent with the debased die-cutting of the Phocas period. The surrounding field carries the Latin legend DN FOCAS PERP AVG (Dominus Noster Focas Perpetuus Augustus), partially visible along the periphery. The flan is irregular and the strike is somewhat weak, as is characteristic of hammered copper issues of this reign. The overall surface shows significant patination and encrustation consistent with prolonged burial or circulation. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Phocas seized the throne in 602 by leading a mutiny of Danubian frontier troops against Maurice, then had Maurice and his five sons executed on the shore of the Bosphorus. His eight-year reign was defined by military collapse on multiple fronts and internal purges severe enough to destabilize the administrative apparatus the eastern empire had spent centuries building. The Persian Sassanid king Khosrow II used Maurice's murder as pretext for a war of conquest that would not end until Heraclius deposed Phocas in 610 — by which point Byzantine Asia Minor was already being systematically stripped away.
Constantinople's mint continued striking throughout, though output quality degraded noticeably across the reign.