| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 32327 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients Justinian II Rhinotmetus, Second Reign (AD 705-711). AV solidus (20mm, 4.23 gm, 6h). NGC Choice MS 5/5 - 4/5, clipped. Constantinople, AD 706-711. d N IhS ChS RЄX-RЄGNANTIЧM, facing bust of youthful Christ Pantocrator, with slight beard and tight, curly hair, right hand raised in benediction, book of gospels cradled in left arm; cross behind / d N IЧSTINIA-NЧS ЄT TIbЄRIЧS PP A, crowned facing half-length figures of Justinian II (on left), bearded, and Tiberius (on right), smaller and beardless, both wearing divitision and chlamys, jointly holding cross potent on two steps. Sear 1414. A fantastic piece well-struck from crisp new dies showcasing the with three distinct portraits. Justinian II's son Tiberius, pictured here on the right of the reverse, lived a short and tragic life. He was born in Khazaria (the northern area between the Black and Caspian Seas) to a local princess, Theodora, and Justinian. He was declared co-emperor by his father at the age of one. By the time he was five, he was present with his father at some official ceremonies, such as the reception for Pope Constantine in AD 710. A revolt against his despotic father materialized in AD 711, and little Tiberius was taken by his grandmother Anastasia to a church for sanctuary. However, the new emperor Bardanes knew that as the last member of the dynasty of Heraclius, he might still pose a threat. Agents sent by Bardanes mercilessly dragged the six-year old Tiberius from the church and his grandmother's arms, murdering him outside. Fate did not forgive Bardanes for this horrific act, as he himself was deposed, blinded, and mutilated only two years later. But this was not the end of little Tiberius' story. The Arabs decided on one last all-out effort to capture Constantinople in AD 715, and they figured it would perhaps help encourage some Byzantines to defect to them if they fought on behalf of the "missing" great-great-great-grandson of Heraclius. Few believed the Arabs' impostor and their forces were eventually driven back two years later. More than two decades later, an Arab man by the name of Bashir bribed an elderly and blind Christian man named Theophantus who was living in Syria to travel to the caliph and inform him that he knew of the whereabouts of Tiberius. Bashir then appeared before the caliph and made a convincing performance, so much so that the caliph allowed him to don royal robes and parade through the formerly Byzantine cities of Syria. While in the northern Syrian city of Edessa, he was discovered as a pretender and immediately crucified. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-justinian-ii-rhinotmetus-second-reign-ad-705-711-av-solidus-20mm-423-gm-6h-ngc-choice-ms-5-5-4-5/a/3115-32327.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
