Rare Basiliscus and Marcus Nummus

172, Lot: 320. Estimate $150. Sold for $837. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Basiliscus and Marcus. AD 475-476. Æ (9mm, 0.88 g, 7h). Cyzicus (?) mint. Diademed and draped bust right / Basiliscus and Marcus monogram 2. Cf. RIC X 1034 (Cyzicus); LRBC 2283; MIRB 16 (this coin, as Basiliscus); Coin Hoards II, Fig. 14, 10 (this coin, as Basiliscus). VF, brown patina, some light deposits, uneven flan. The prominent M in the monogram must refer to Marcus, but only RIC X seems to agree. Compare RIC X, pp 303 and 305. The only recognizable mintmark for the type is CVZ for Cyzicus, but Constantinople and Nicomedia would likely also have struck the type.

From The John A. Seeger Collection.

The emperor Zeno (formerly Tarasis of Isaura), an uncouth provincial in the eyes of the sophisticated Constantinopolitans, was not held in high regard upon succeeding Leo I, and after a brief reign of about a year he was deposed by a cabal led by Leo’s widow, Verina. Basilicus proclaimed his son Marcus Caesar and later Augustus, and his wife Zenonis Augusta. His wife’s name suggests she had some connection with the Isaurans. The monogram type combining the names of Basiliscus and Marcus probably came after the son’s elevation, but the exact date is uncertain. Basiliscus proved completely incompetent, antagonizing both church and populace, and after a turbulent reign of some eighteen months was sent packing by a returning triumphant Zeno. The emperor had vowed not to shed the blood of the usurper, but had said nothing about starving the exiled Basilicus and his family to death in Cappadocia.