Extremely Rare Ceremonial Hexagram

257, Lot: 514. Estimate $300. Sold for $1300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Leo III the "Isaurian". 717-741. AR Hexagram (19mm, 3.02 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. Struck 717-720. Helmeted and cuirassed facing bust, holding spear over shoulder and shield / Cross potent on three steps; Є(?)//CONOB. Yannopoulos -; DOC 20; MIB 23; SB 1511. Near VF, find patina and deposits. Extremely rare ceremonial issue.

Yannopoulos does not even comment on the silver ceremonial coinage of Leo III in his study of the hexagram. The size and weight of these silver pieces no longer have any relationship to the hexagram standard, and are simply off-metal strikes from solidus dies. Reverses of officinae Δ and Є are published, and an example from officina H was recently discovered (Triton IX, lot 1658), so the selection of reverse dies appears to have been random. Curiously, the obverse bust type on SB 1511 is not known for a solidus of Leo, but is copied from the portraits of Constantine IV. SB 1510 features the normal crowned bust type of Leo III.