Theophilos (829–30/31)
Accession Number: BZS.1955.1.4281 (formerly DO 55.1.4281)
Previous Editions
DO Seals 6 no. 45.1; Zacos–Veglery, no. 52.
Diameter: 23 mm
Field: None mm
Weight: 15.86 g
Obverse
Bust of Theophilos, bearded, wearing a crown surmounted with a cross and a loros. He holds a globus cruciger in his right hand and in his left a cross scepter. Circular inscription. Border of dots.
Θeof[il]os basileu(s).
Reverse
Blank.
Commentary:
The design and inscription on this seal are identical to those on the obverse of Theophilos’s earliest gold issues (class 1 solidus), dated by Grierson to 829–30/31 (DOC 3.1:1a.2 [pl. 22]).
On the obverse it is not possible to discern the globus in the emperor’s right hand, but one can see the cross surmounting it.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 6: Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda
- Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. 1
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, vol. 3, Leo III to Nicephorus III (717–1081)
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