CNG 97, Lot: 789. Estimate $500. Sold for $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantine V Copronymus, with Leo IV and Leo III. 741-775. AV Solidus (20mm, 4.39 g, 6h). Constantinople mint, officina “Φ”. Struck circa 764-773. Crowned and draped facing busts of Constantine V and Leo IV; cross above, pellet between / Crowned facing bust of Leo III, wearing loros, holding cross potent; Φ at end of legend. DOC 2g.1, 3-4; Füeg 6.B.6; SB 1551. VF, strike a bit weak, a few light scratches.

From DOC (p. 294): “The appearance of the letter Φ, which had never occurred in the traditional pattern of officina letters, shows that the numerical series of officinae had now been abandoned in favor of new control marks whose exact significance is unknown.”