Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
40 Nummi - Phocas Antioch, Class 2
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 608-610 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | BCV#672, DOC II-1#90, MIB II#84a, Sommer Byz#9.57 |
| Obverse description | Facing bust of Emperor Phocas, depicted in military attire with a crown surmounted by a pendilia, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. The emperor's effigy is rendered in the characteristic late Byzantine flat, frontal style, with wide staring eyes and stylized drapery folds. A partial Latin legend surrounds the bust reading DN FOCA NE PE AV, an abbreviation of Dominus Noster Focas Perpetuus Augustus. The flan is irregular, as is typical of hammered issues from the Antioch mint of this period. The fields show considerable wear and surface patination consistent with circulation use. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Phocas came to power in 602 by leading a mutiny of Danubian troops against Maurice, whose reign he ended with the execution of the emperor and his six sons. His eight-year rule was defined by continuous military crisis — Sassanid Persia under Khosrow II launched a war of revenge for Maurice's death that would not end until Heraclius finally concluded it in 628. These Antioch bronzes of 608–610 were struck in the final months before Heraclius's revolt succeeded, making them among the last coins produced under Phocas at a mint the Persians would seize within years.