Romanus III Argyrus, 1028-1034. Histamenon (Gold, 22 mm, 4.38 g, 6 h), Constantinopolis. +IҺS XIS RЄX RЄςNANTIҺm Christ, nimbate, seated facing on square-backed throne, wearing tunic and pallium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left. Rev. ΘCЄ bOHΘ' RωmAҺωΘ On the left, Romanus III standing facing, wearing crown with pendilia and loros, holding globus cruciger in his left hand; on the right, the Virgin, wearing robes and maphorion, crowning the emperor with her right hand. DOC -, cf. 1 (with MΘ above Mary's head). CNG E-Auction 292 (2012), 447 (same obverse die). Triton IX (2006), 1666 (same dies). SB -, cf. 1819 (with MΘ above Mary's head). Extremely rare, apparently the third known example of this highly unusual issue. Some scratches and nicks, otherwise, very fine.



In Byzantine numismatics, whenever Christ or the Virgin Mary appears on a coin, their presence is always marked by an inscription, at least in abbreviated form. Yet on this histamenon, although the Virgin is clearly depicted, her name is absent - unlike the emperor's, which appears in the surrounding legend. Interestingly, this absence is also observed on a second die (CNG E-Auction 292 (2012), 447), suggesting it may have been an intentional variant. However, it seems implausible that the mint would have deliberately omitted the name of the Holy Virgin, as such an omission would verge on blasphemy. It is almost certainly an oversight by the die engraver, who evidently made the same mistake twice. This is further supported by the obverse die pairing of the three pieces and the stylistic similarity of the two reverse dies, which were almost certainly crafted by the same artist.