Artavasdus, with Nicephorus. 741/2-743. AV Solidus (20mm, 4.46 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. Struck 742/743. Good VF.

Triton XXVI
Lot: 923. Estimated: $ 15 000

Byzantine, Coin-in-Hand Video, Gold

Sold For $ 12 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

Artavasdus, with Nicephorus. 741/2-743. AV Solidus (20mm, 4.46 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. Struck 742/743. ϭ APτAЧA SDOS MЧLτ, crowned bust of Artavasdus facing, wearing chlamys, holding patriarchal cross in right hand / ϭ NICҺF(inverted)ORЧS MЧLτЧ, crowned bust of Nicephorus facing, wearing chlamys, holding patriarchal cross in right hand; A at end of legend. DOC 2a; Füeg 2.A; SB 1542. A number of scratches and scrapes, a little weak in centers. Good VF. Very rare.

From the S & S Collection.

Artavasdus was the son-in-law of Leo III. After Leo's death in 741, Artavasdus seized the throne in opposition to Leo's young son, Constantine V. He managed to capture Constantinople, where he restored the worship of icons. But Constantine rallied the army to his cause and defeated Artavasdus in a number of battles. After a few months, Artavasdus and his son Nicephorus were cornered, imprisoned and blinded. His coinage was recalled and melted down, accounting for the great rarity of his solidi today.

The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.

Triton XXVI – Session Three – Lots 674-990 will be held Wednesday morning, 11 January 2023 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.