Solidus - Constantine IV Carthage

Constantine IV spent much of his reign managing existential threats from multiple directions simultaneously. The Arab sieges of Constantinople — the first running from 674 to 678 — were broken in large part through the deployment of Greek fire, a weapon whose precise formulation remains disputed to this day. The subsequent peace treaty bought the empire two decades of breathing room on the eastern frontier.

The Carthage mint operated with considerable independence from Constantinople during this period, producing solidi with distinctive fabric and die-cutting habits that specialists use to distinguish provincial from capital issues. The Sixth Ecumenical Council of 680–681 condemned Monothelitism — a theological position Constantine's own father had supported — and its conclusions directly influenced imperial iconography on coins of this exact year.