108, Lot: 346. Estimate $100. Sold for $96. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MAURICE TIBERIUS. 582-602 AD. Lot of two Æ Folles. Antioch mint. Lot includes the following RYs: RY 8 (589/90 AD). DOC 159a; MIB II 95; SB 532 // RY 11 (592/3 AD). DOC 163b; MIB II 96Ca; SB 533. Average VF. Two (2) coins in lot. LOT SOLD AS IS. NO RETURNS.

Antioch, the greatest metropolis in the Byzantine east outside of Alexandria in Egypt, was always a focal point of agitation against the supremacy of the imperial center at Constantinople. Protests and riots directed against imperial officers were commonplace. A more subtle form of resistance seems to have been practiced at the Antioch mint. From about the middle of the reign of Justinian onward, the bronze coinage of Antioch is marked by a notable corruption of the imperial name, often rendering it illegible, even though the design of the coin remains up to standard. Perhaps this reflected a snubbing of imperial authority. One brief exception occured in 589 AD. A combination of a dispute between the Patriarch of Antioch and the Comes Orientis (imperial general of the east), the lingering border war with Persia, and a devastating earthquake led to a full-scale revolt among the troops stationed in Syria. The Patriarch, Gregory, agreed to support a new nominee for the position of Count, and Philippicus gain undisputed authority in Antioch. One byproduct of this change was reform of the coinage, with both obverse and reverse of the follis being modified, and the imperial name clearly delineated. The legends on the coins of Antioch remained clear until the final closing of the mint by Heraclius in 610 AD.