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Solidus - Constans II VICTORIA AVGU, Constantinopolis
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 641-654 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Currency | First Solidus Nomisma (498-720) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | VICTORIA AVGU CONOB (with variants CONOBK, CONOBS, CONOB+, CONOBI, and officina letters Α, Β, Γ, Δ, ϵ, S, Z (or retrograde Z), Η, Θ, Ι) (Translation: "Victoria Augustorum" (Victory of the Augusts)) |
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| Additional information |
Constans II inherited the throne at age eleven following the execution of his father Heraclonas, ruling through a period when Byzantine control over Egypt, Syria, and the Levant was permanently severed by the Arab conquests. The solidi struck across this long emission absorbed those seismic fiscal shocks — the loss of Egypt alone gutted the empire's grain supply and a substantial portion of its tax base, yet the gold coinage held its purity with remarkable discipline.
The Constantinople mint produced multiple officina during this reign, and the series spans enough die variation to reward careful attribution. Constans himself was murdered in his bath at Syracuse in 668, having relocated the imperial court to Sicily — an extraordinary administrative decision reflecting just how precarious Constantinople itself felt at the time.