Follis - Leo V and Constantine Symbatios Constantinopolis

Leo V came to power in 813 by deposing Michael I immediately after the catastrophic Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Versinikia, where the Bulgarian Khan Krum had routed imperial forces so decisively that Constantinople itself was threatened. He elevated his son Constantine — renamed Symbatios upon co-elevation to Caesar — as a deliberate legitimizing gesture, the joint portrait coinage reinforcing dynastic continuity for an emperor who had seized the throne by coup. Leo's reign ended the same way it began: he was murdered in the Hagia Sophia on Christmas morning 820 by conspirators loyal to Michael the Amorian.