CNG 100, Lot: 308. Estimate $300. Sold for $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantine IV Pogonatus, with Heraclius and Tiberius. 668-685. AV Solidus (13mm, 4.26 g, 6h). Carthage (or Sardinian?) mint. Dated IY 8 (679/80). Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding spear and shield / Cross potent set on three steps between standing figures of Heraclius and Tiberius; H in left field, retrograde S in right; CONOB. DOC –; MIB 25 (Sardinia); SB 1189A (Carthage). EF, lustrous. Very rare.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Superior (1 October 1984), lot 1277.

The retrograde “S” on the reverse may be a mintmark for Sardinia, but the majority of examples have been found in Tunisia (see C. Morrisson, “Un trésor de solidi de Constantin IV de Carthage,” RN [1980], pp. 155-60). It is perhaps best to keep them at Carthage, pending further evidence.