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Tiberios Constantine? (578–82)

 
 

Obverse

Three-quarter length representation of the Mother of God wearing a chiton and maphorion, holding a medallion of Christ before her. A cross visible at left. Linear border.

Reverse

Bust of emperor (Tiberios Constantine?) wearing a crown with a cross on top and pendilia. Remains of a circular inscription beginning at left. Linear border.

.......NSTA...NVSP....

[D(ominus) n(oster) Tib(erius) Co]nsta[nti]nus p(er)[p(etuus) aug(ustus)].

Obverse

Three-quarter length representation of the Mother of God wearing a chiton and maphorion, holding a medallion of Christ before her. A cross visible at left. Linear border.

Reverse

Bust of emperor (Tiberios Constantine?) wearing a crown with a cross on top and pendilia. Remains of a circular inscription beginning at left. Linear border.

.......NSTA...NVSP....

[D(ominus) n(oster) Tib(erius) Co]nsta[nti]nus p(er)[p(etuus) aug(ustus)].

Accession number BZS.1958.106.512 (formerly DO 58.106.512)
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 8.1; Zacos–Veglery, no. 6.

Translation

Dominus noster Tiberius Constantinus perpetuus augustus.

Our lord Tiberios Constantine, eternal augustus.

Commentary

The circular inscription on the reverse is muddled, but one can distinctly see at left the letters NSTA and at right the letter V. Zacos and Veglery thought that the emperor’s crown was adorned at top with a trefoil ornament.  In contrast to this, however, the crown's ornamentation may be compared with a different type that occurs in a coin of Tiberios Constantine (DOC 1:2 [pl. 60]. See also MIB 2: pl. 10, no. 2) – a crown surmounted by a cross – and assigned to that emperor. If this attribution is correct, then it follows that the replacement of Winged Victory with the Mother of God occurred in the period 578–82.

In Byzantine Seals from Cyprus, no. 1, Metcalf has published a seal of Tiberios Constantine found in Cyprus in the area of Dhekelia, “towards Pyla.” The decoration follows the same pattern as the emperor’s solidi: on the obverse appears Tiberios dressed in consular robes; on the reverse is shown a cross-on-steps. For a similar type see Seibt, Bleisiegel, no. 8.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Lead Seals from Cyprus (Open in Zotero)
  • Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich, Vol. 1, Kaiserhof (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 1, Anastasius I to Maurice (491–602) (Open in Zotero)
  • Moneta Imperii Byzantini: Rekonstruktion des Prägeaufbaues auf synoptisch-tabellarischer Grundlage (Open in Zotero)