160, Lot: 356. Estimate $100. Sold for $122. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Byzantine-Sasanian. Occupation of Egypt, circa 618-628. Æ 12 Nummi (17mm, 6.64 g, 6h). Alexandria mint. Cuirassed bust facing (of Khosrau II?), crown with simple cross; to left, star, to right, crescent / Large IB, cross potent on globe between; ALEZ in exergue. DOC 191; SB 855. VF, green and brown patina.

Domaszewicz and Bates, in their article “Copper Coinage of Egypt in the Seventh Century”, Fustat Finds pp 103-107, posit a date in the reign of Anastasius I for these dodecanummi. This is unlikely, based both on archaeological site finds and on stylistic grounds. Most notably, the typographic feature of the central cross placed on a globe only appears in the last phase of coin production at Alexandria, in the reigns of Heraclius and Constans II. it is unlikely this design feature would be used once and then disappear for almost a century before being revived.