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  [Image]                              Item Sold At Auction #40
                                   -----------------------------------
                 Lot Number: 64677
                 Estimate: $1,000.00
                 Final Sale Price: $687.50
                                   -----------------------------------
                 Denomination: Solidus
                 Grade: EF
                 Reference: DOC III 14; BN -; SB 1631B




  Leo V and Constantine. 813-820 AD. AV Solidus (3.94 gm). Syracuse mint. •LE ON
  bASILEU', crowned facing bust of Leo, holding cross potent and akakia; L in right
  field / CONST ANTINOS B, similar bust of Constantine, holding globus cruciger and
  akakia. DOC III 14; BN -; SB 1631B. EF, scrape on reverse portrait's face.
  Attractive. Estimate $1000.



  Leo, son of Bardas, was of certain Armenian extraction, and was commander of
  Byzantine forces in Armenia when the rout of Michael I at Versinikia led to his
  acclamation as emperor. The desertion of troops loyal to Leo lead to Michael's defeat
  by the Bulgarians. Leo's reign was characterized not by military activity, but by
  religious controversy brought on by his vehement Iconoclastic views. His opponents
  committed the ultimate sacrilegious act of assassinating him in Hagia Sophia on
  Christmas Day, 820. His godson Theophilus would avenge his murder after his accession
  in 829, even though the conspirators had been associates of his father Michael II.





Online auction number 40 closed October 22, 2001.



Used by permission of CNG, www.historicalcoins.com