Freeman & Sear - Gemini I, Session 2



      ancient classic artifacts coins numismatic roman greek 



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                        Lot: 506

                        (click on image to enlarge)
                        ROMAN EMPIRE: Theophilus & Constantine. AD 829-842. AV 
                        semissis (1.75 gm).

                        ROMAN EMPIRE. Theophilus and Constantine (AD 829-842). 
                        Gold semissis (1.75 gm). Syracuse, 5 June AD 830-831. 
                        QEO-FILOS CE, bust facing of Theophilus with short 
                        beard, wearing crown and chlamys, holding patriarchal 
                        cross on globus in right hand / Coh-STAhTI, facing bust 
                        of Constantine with small childlike face, wearing crown 
                        and chlamys, holding globus cruciger in right hand, 
                        pellet on either side of cross. BN 5. DO 22. Sear 1672. 
                        Hunt -. Tolstoi -. Ratto -. Extremely rare: only three 
                        recorded specimens. Mint state 

                        The image of Constantine the Infant, son of Theophilus, 
                        is the rarest portrait of the Byzantine series. Its 
                        rarity has been obscured by a misleading footnote in 
                        Sear. Until the 1960s neither DO nor the BN owned an 
                        example of this issue, and the specimens they then 
                        acquired both came from the same hoard which otherwise 
                        only contained coins of Theophilus of Syracuse. 
                        Estimated Value: $ 9,000 




...Sold for $10,500 USD [ approx 7980 EUR, 5565 GBP ] plus 15% buyers fee. 

Gemini I Auction Closed Jan 11-12, 2005. 

Re-used by permission of Freeman & Sear (www.freemanandsear.com) 
                      and Harlan J Berk (www.harlanjberk.com).