Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 1864. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THEOPHILUS, with MICHAEL II and CONSTANTINE. 829-842 AD. Æ Off-Metal "Solidus" (2.23 gm, 6h). Constantinople mint. Struck circa 831-840 AD. Crowned facing bust of Theophilus, holding patriarchal cross and akakia; legend ends with Q / Crowned facing busts of Michael II and Constantine; cross above. Type of: DOC III 3e; SB 1653. Good VF, jade green patina, a bit rough. ($300)

This piece is clearly ancient, with a good solid green patina, and appears to have been struck with official solidus dies. It is much too light to have been intended as a contemporary forgery, and by the same token could not have been a weight. It is likely to be either a die test piece or a tessera, perhaps for accounting purposes.