Heraclius, 610-641. Solidus (Gold, 22 mm, 4.40 g, 7 h), uncertain military mint in the East (Jerusalem?), circa 610-613. d N hЄRACLIЧS P P AVI Draped and cuirassed bust of Heraclius (resembling Phocas) facing, wearing crown and holding globus cruciger in his right hand. Rev. VICTORIA AVςЧ ΙΠ / CONOB Angel standing facing, holding long linear staff surmounted by staurogram in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left. S. Bendall, The Byzantine coinage of the mint of Jerusalem, in: RN 159 (2003), type 3. DOC 186 (Alexandria). MIB III 76 (Cyprus or eastern military mint). SB 850 (Jerusalem). Shoshana -. Extremely rare. Lustrous and very attractive. Minor areas of weakness, otherwise, good extremely fine.



This exceptionally rare solidus belongs to the enigmatic eastern military coinage of the opening years of Heraclius' reign. Although the obverse legend already names Heraclius, both the imperial portrait and the reverse type remain closely dependent on the coinage of his predecessor Phocas: the facing bust retains Phocas' distinctive appearance, while the standing angel holding a staurogram-tipped staff and globus cruciger likewise continues his standard solidus reverse.

This remarkable combination strongly suggests that the eastern mint had already received news of the change of ruler, but not yet a new official imperial image or fully revised prototypes, and therefore adapted the familiar coinage of Phocas simply by replacing his name with that of Heraclius. The result is an unusually vivid numismatic document of a moment when political authority changed more rapidly than imperial imagery could reach the distant mint.