Revolt of the Heraclii

355, Lot: 664. Estimate $300. Sold for $380. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Revolt of the Heraclii. 608-610. Æ Follis (27mm, 8.06 g, 6h). Alexandria mint, 1st officina. Dated IY 14 (610). Facing busts of Heraclius, on left, and his father, the exarch Heraclius, on right, both crowned and wearing consular robes; cross above / Large M; cross above, date across field; A//[AΛЄξANΔ]. DOC 17 (Alexandretta); MIBE 16b; SB 723 (Alexandretta). VF, brown surfaces, light porosity.

Beginning in 608, the exarch of Africa and his son, both named Heraclius, began issuing coinage in opposition to that of the unpopular Byzantine emperor Phocas. This coinage named and depicted the Heraclii as consuls (though neither held the title at that time) rather than as emperors, a political move that promoted the Heraclii as champions of the people, not merely rivals to the throne. The revolt culminated with Heraclius the younger’s coup at Constantinople, where he was welcomed by the population, crowned, and saw to the execution of his predecessor in 610.