Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1118. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Stephan. Apo hypatos, patricios, and genikos commerciarios of the Apotheke of Pamphylia, 659-668. PB Seal (36mm, 26.87 g, 11h). +CTEFAN(OY) AP[O VPA]/ TwN PATRIKI(OY)/ KAI GEN[IK(OY)/ KOM[M] in three lines, crowned facing busts of Constans II and Constantine IV, each holding a globus cruciger in right hand; cross above / EPKIAPI(OY) AP/OQHKHC PA/MFVLIA in three lines, crowned facing busts of Heraclius and Tiberius, each holding a globus cruciger in right hand; globe above. Cf. BLS I 138-144 (seals of Stephan); cf. DOCBS IV 11.20 (seal of Stephan); Seyrig -; Vatican -; Orghidan -; Jordanov -. VF, tan and gray patina, a little rough.

From the Robert E. Hecht Collection.

Genikoi commerciarioi oversaw the state warehouses (apothekai) and controlled trade on the frontier. Commerciarioi were normally appointed or reappointed by the emperor each year, and many of their seals can be dated to a small range of years or even to a specific year (for example, lots 1119 and 1126). As a result, we are able to reconstruct the careers of many of the officials. Zacos and Veglery (BLS I) have outlined the career of Stephan (see Vol. I, table 1, p. 145) based on his seals. This example reveals that Stephan administered the warehouse of Pamphylia, a position unrecorded by BLS I. The seal likely dates to the middle of Stephan’s career, after he became an apo hypatos but before he became a stratiotikos logothes (the head of taxation department).