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40 Nummi - Constans II Constantinopolis
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 651-652 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | First Solidus Nomisma (498-720) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Full-length frontal effigy of Emperor Constans II, depicted standing facing, wearing an imperial crown and chlamys. The emperor is distinguished by a long beard and moustache. He holds a tall processional cross in his right hand and a globus cruciger in his left hand. The legend ЄN T૪TO NIKA, invoking the Constantinian motto 'In this sign, conquer,' surrounds the imperial figure. The style is characteristic of mid-seventh-century Byzantine hammered coinage, with a hieratic, frontal presentation. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (651-652) IA - A - Constantinople, 1st officina - ND (651-652) IA - B - Constantinople, 2nd officina - ND (651-652) IA - Γ - Constantinople, 3rd officina - ND (651-652) IA - Δ - Constantinople, 4th officina - ND (651-652) IA - ϵ - Constantinople, 5th officina - |
| Additional information |
By 651, Byzantine bronze coinage had been in structural decline for decades — weight standards collapsed, flans were poorly prepared, and output from Constantinople was inconsistent enough that DOC II-2 subdivides these issues into fine chronological groupings based on regnal year monograms. The year 13 issues (651–652) fall within a period of acute pressure: the Arab conquests had permanently severed Egypt and Syria from the empire by this point, stripping Constantinople of its wealthiest tax base and forcing brutal fiscal contraction across all minting operations.
The Constantinople mint's 40-nummi pieces from this phase are routinely found on small, thick flans with significant off-center striking — a direct consequence of reduced workshop staffing and degraded flan preparation, not random accident.