CNG 94, Lot: 1377. Estimate $500. Sold for $800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constans II. 641-668. AV Solidus (20mm, 4.50 g, 6h). Constantinople mint, 7th officina. Struck 641-646/7. Crowned and draped facing bust, holding globus cruciger / Cross potent set on three steps; Z (retrograde)//CONOB. DOC 1b (Heraclonas); MIB 3a; SB 936. EF, lustrous, faint scratch on reverse.

From the Sasha Collection. Ex Argenor (13 April 2005), lot 239.

There is still room for debate about the attribution of coins from the period immediately after the death of Heraclius, when his sons, Heraclius Constantine by Fabia and Heraclonas by Martina, held the throne for brief periods before the accession of Constans II, or Constantine. It seems likely that MIB 1 and 2 (Constans II) belong to one of the two ephemeral rulers, the portrait being distinctly different with its plumed crown. MIB 3a and 4a (Heraclonas?) are more problematic, the portaits and titulature being very close to later, securely identified issues of Constans. The only difference is that the head on these pieces is a bit smaller and rounder, while the Constans solidi have a longer face and an out-thrust chin, a chin which in later years he tooks pains to hide behind a luxuriant beard. It is difficult to determine whether the Byzantines would have recognized these slight differences in physiognomy as portraits of two different emperors. In addition, MIB 3a and 4a are encountered relatively frequently, as opposed to the genuinely rare MIB 1 and 2, and thus are less likely to be from a very brief reign, such as that of Heraclonas (6 months).