Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 1092. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CONSTANTINE IV. 668-685 AD. Æ Half Follis (3.44 g, 6h). Syracuse mint. Dated IY 4 (675/6 AD). Helmeted (?) and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear over shoulder / Large K; cross above, date across field. DOC II 67; Spahr 186; BBS 43; MIB III 111-112; SB 1214. VF, dark green patina, slight roughness. ($150)

All the references dismiss the date as an impossible regnal year, taken over from the issues of Constans II. This despite the fact that Hahn takes the same date formula under Constans II, ANNO D, as an indictional year, rather than a regnal year. An Indictional date "four" fits in well with the standard chronology of the Syracusan types of Constantine IV. Hahn also distinguishes crowned and helmeted busts for this type (MIB 111-112), a distinction which does not appear to be supported by the evidence. All known specimens are quite crude and poorly preserved, and the headgear cannot be positively distinguished.