Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 1128. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BASIL I, the Macedonian, with LEO VI and ALEXANDER. 868-886 AD. Æ Half Follis (2.06 g, 6h). Provincial mint. Struck 879-886 AD. Crowned facing bust of Basil, holding cross / Crowned facing busts of Leo and Alexander; cross above. DOC III 13b; SB 1722. VF, brown patina, porous. Possibly overstruck. Rare. ($150)

Two varieties of DOC 13 are recognized: on a larger flan with star between the heads and a smaller, neater style with cross between. If neither variety can be placed at Constantinople, this suggests the possibility of two subsidiary mints striking these varieties.