Final Byzantine Solidus from Africa

CNG 100, Lot: 311. Estimate $3000. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Justinian II. First reign, 685-695. AV Solidus (12mm, 4.31 g, 6h). Carthage (or branch) mint. Dated RY 10 (late 695). IЧSTIOI AτOC P P (Ч retrograde), crowned and draped bust facing, bearded, holding globus cruciger / CICTORI-A AЧT (Ч retrograde), cross potent set on three steps; I to right; CONB. For another specimen with slightly different legends, see Goldberg 53 (24 May 2009), lot 2178; otherwise unpublished in the standard references. Near EF, minor deposits around the devices. Extremely rare, probably only the second known.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Leu/Numismatica Ars Classica (26 May 1993), lot 435.

The “I” on the reverse can only be interpreted as a date, which is supported by the light beard worn by Justinian on this final issue. If struck at Carthage, this solidus would have to predate the Umayyad capture of the city in late 695, and there is a good chance it was struck between Justinian’s deposition and the arrival of the news of his overthrow at Carthage. As suggested in the Leu/NAC sale, however, it may have been struck at a “branch mint” set up by officials fleeing Carthage with bullion in advance of the Arab invasion, possibly at the outpost of Ceuta, which did not fall until 709. In any case, it seems likely that this was the last Byzantine solidus to be struck in Africa (postdating the dually dated year 10/9 solidi [MIB 18b; SB 1265B]), or at the very least, to be the last solidus struck by former workers of the Carthaginian mint.

The Goldberg/Christov Family specimen, slightly inferior to the current piece, hammered at $4750. That sale mistakenly claimed the Leu/NAC provenance of our coin.