Sale: CNG 61, Lot: 2282. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2002.  Sold For $600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANONYMOUS. Issues attributed to the period of Constantine VIII, circa 1020-1030 AD. Æ Follis (10.61 gm). Class A2. Uncertain mint, possibly Thessalonica. Facing bust of nimbate Christ, pellets in the arms of nimbus, wearing pallium and colobium, holding the Gospels in both hands / +IhSUS/ XRISTUS/bASILEU/bASILE, in four lines; arabesques above and below. DOC III pt. 2, A2.24.21 (different dies); SB 1818. Choice EF, dark green patina. ($500)

A very similar type in comparable condition realized $650 in Classical Numimatic Group, Auction 53 (15 March 2000), lot 1872. The obverse of the present coin is as choice as they come, and the reverse is only slightly off-center.