Nomos 38

Constans II, with Constantine IV, Heraclius, and Tiberius, 641-668. Solidus (Gold, 20.5 mm, 4.41 g, 6 h), Constantinople, S = 7th officina, circa 667-668. VICTORIA - AVSЧ S Facing, bearded bust of Constans II, wearing a plumed helmet (not a crown) and a chlamys, and holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. Rev. CONOB The crowned and draped figures of Tiberius, Constantine IV and Heraclius standing facing, each holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. DOC 42e. MIB 41. SB 974. A rare late issue. Light marks, otherwise, good extremely fine.

From the Bollen Collection of Byzantine Coins, ex UBS 63, 6 September 2005, and from the collections of Reverend William Lewis Gantz (1873-1940), Glendinings 27 May 1941, 905, and that of Prince Michael Cantacuzene, formed by his ancestors since the 1600s, Glendinings 8 December 1922, 78.

Prince Michael (Mikhail) Canatacuzene (1875-1955) was a Russian general who managed to flee Petrograd, with his American first wife Julia Dent Grant (President Grant's granddaughter), soon after the start of the Russian Revolution. He ultimately settled in Sarasota. Having a collection of Byzantine coins made some sense since the Cantacuzene family, originally a noble Greek family from Romania, claimed descent from the Byzantine Emperor, John VI (1347-1354).