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Constans II and Constantine IV (654–59)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God standing, wearing a chiton and maphorion, and holding Christ before her. Her left leg is bent at the knee. A cross potent at left and right.

Reverse

Bust of Constans II with long beard and mustache at left, and a smaller bust of Constantine IV beardless at right. Each wears a crown with a cross and a chlamys. A small cross in the upper field, between the two figures. Traces of an illegible inscription along the circumference. Wreath border.

Obverse

The Mother of God standing, wearing a chiton and maphorion, and holding Christ before her. Her left leg is bent at the knee. A cross potent at left and right.

Reverse

Bust of Constans II with long beard and mustache at left, and a smaller bust of Constantine IV beardless at right. Each wears a crown with a cross and a chlamys. A small cross in the upper field, between the two figures. Traces of an illegible inscription along the circumference. Wreath border.

Accession number BZS.1958.106.519 (formerly DO 58.106.519)
Diameter 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 20.4.

Commentary

Constans II took his son Constantine IV as a colleague on 13 April 654. Consequently seals and coins (for example, DOC 2.2:25h [pl. 24]; MIB 3: Prägetabelle 5, nos. 26–28) bearing depictions of the two rulers are assigned from that date until June of 659, when Constans associated with himself two more sons, Herakleios and Tiberios. As with coins, Constans during this second period of his reign is depicted with a longer beard and mustache.

The crosses flanking the Mother of God are short and are placed low in the field.

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)
  • Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 2, Phocas to Theodosius III (602–717) (Open in Zotero)
  • Moneta Imperii Byzantini: Rekonstruktion des Prägeaufbaues auf synoptisch-tabellarischer Grundlage (Open in Zotero)