200, Lot: 339. Estimate $100. Sold for $125. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Heraclius. 610-641. Æ 12 Nummi (18mm, 10.06 g, 6h). Alexandria mint. Circa 618-628. Cuirassed bust facing, crown with simple cross; to left, star, to right, crescent / Large IB, cross potent on globe between. DOC 191; SB 855. Good VF, brown patina.

From the Norman Frank Collection.

Domaszewicz and Bates, in their article “Copper Coinage of Egypt in the Seventh Century”, Fustat Finds pp. 103-107, posit a date in the reign of Anastasius I for these 12 nummi. This is unlikely, based both on archaeological site finds and on stylistic grounds. Most notably, the typographic feature of the central cross placed on a globe only appears in the last phase of coin production at Alexandria, in the reigns of Heraclius and Constans II. It is unlikely this design feature would be used once and then disappear for almost a century before being revived.