MICHAEL III. 842-867 AD. Æ Follis (17mm, 2.84 gm). Syracuse mint. MIXAHL b, crowned facing bust of Michael, wearing loros and holding cross potent / Large M; cross above,
Q below. DOC III 12; Calciati 93; SB 1697. VF, red-brown patina.
A historic little coin. It is not only the last bronze coin struck for the Byzantine possessions in Sicily, but also the last follis struck anywhere with the denomination mark of M, thus it is the last vestige of the reform instituted by Anastasius I in 498 AD.