369, Lot: 543. Estimate $200. Sold for $280. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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Heraclius. 610-641. Æ 12 Nummi (24mm, 15.96 g, 6h). Alexandria mint. Struck 618-628(?). Draped facing bust (of Khosrau II?), wearing crown surmounted by cross within crescent; star to left, crescent to right / Large I B; cross potent on globe between; AΛEΞ. Bates,
Copper issue UI; DOC 192; MIB 202a; SB 856. VF, dark brown patina.
From the Prue Morgan Fitts Collection.
Although usually assigned to the Persian occupation of Egypt, Bates highlights a number of problems with such an attribution. He dismisses the interpretation of the crescent and star as specifically Persian, arguing that the symbols were ubiquitous in the ancient eastern Mediterranean.