355, Lot: 640. Estimate $100. Sold for $220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Basiliscus & Marcus. AD 475-476. Æ Nummus (10mm, 1.27 g, 2h). Constantinople, Nicomedia, or Cyzicus(?). Diademed and draped bust right [unrecognizable on this specimen] / Monogram of Basiliscus and Marcus. Cf. RIC X 1034 (Cyzicus); cf. LRBC 2283; cf. MIRB 16 (as Basiliscus). Fine, dark brown patina with touches of green. Very rare.

The emperor Zeno (formerly Tarasis of Isaura), an uncouth provincial in the eyes of the sophisticated Constantinopolitans, was not held in high regard upon succeeding Leo I, and after a brief reign of about a year he was deposed by a cabal led by Leo’s widow, Verina. Basiliscus proclaimed his son Marcus Caesar and later Augustus, and his wife Zenonis Augusta. His wife’s name suggests she had some connection with the Isaurans. The monogram type combining the names of Basiliscus and Marcus probably came after the son’s elevation, but the exact date is uncertain. Basiliscus proved completely incompetent, antagonizing both church and populace, and after a turbulent reign of some eighteen months, was sent packing by a returning triumphant Zeno. The emperor had vowed not to shed the blood of the usurper, but had said nothing about starving the exiled Basiliscus and his family to death in Cappadocia.