Historical Context

The reign of Emperor Constans II, who was baptized Heraclius and reigned officially as Constantine from 641 to 668, marked a critical epoch of political transition and military stress in seventh-century Byzantium. Assuming the imperial purple as an adolescent following dynastic turmoil after the death of Heraclius, Constans faced persistent territorial losses across Egypt, North Africa, and the Levant to expanding Arab armies, along with maritime pressures in the eastern Mediterranean and Slavic incursions throughout the Balkans.

To consolidate dynastic succession and project administrative cohesion during repeated internal and external crises, the emperor elevated his three sons to the rank of Augustus. Constantine IV was raised to senior co-emperor in 654, followed in 659 by his younger brothers Heraclius and Tiberius. In 662, Constans departed Constantinople on an ambitious western campaign through Thessalonica and Athens to Italy, eventually establishing his court at Syracuse in Sicily until his death in 668. Solidi assigned to Class VI represent the physical manifestation of this multi-generational co-rule, displaying all four imperial collegial partners across the flan of a single gold denomination struck at Constantinople.

Obverse Iconographic Composition

The obverse composition accommodates two facing imperial figures filling the primary die area. On the left stands the senior Augustus, Constans II, rendered as a mature sovereign with large stylized eyes, heavy whiskers, and a long rectangular beard defined by parallel vertical striations. He wears an imperial chlamys pinned at his right shoulder and an elaborate crested or plumed helmet surmounted by a cross.

On the right stands his eldest son and co-ruler, Constantine IV, depicted on a noticeably reduced scale to signify junior rank within the imperial partnership. Constantine IV is portrayed youthful and beardless, wearing an imperial chlamys and a diadem or crown topped with a cross. Floating above in the field between the heads of the two sovereigns is an isolated cross potent, serving as an emblem of divine protection and joint authority.

Obverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

Due to the substantial space occupied by the paired portrait busts, the obverse perimeter legend is severely restricted, often heavily contracted, or partially driven off-flan during the striking process. The inscription is executed in Latin using Byzantine uncial letterforms.

Attested legend formulations on well-centered dies read d N C AN, d N CONST AN, or ∂ N C AN. This contracted phrase represents the Latin formula Dominus Noster Constantinus, translating as "Our Lord Constantine." Historiography designates the ruler as Constans II, but contemporary administrative and numismatic epigraphy used his formal regnal name Constantine.

Institutional comparative data illustrate this marginal loss: on specimen Cleveland Museum of Art 2012.22, the obverse legend is displaced past the flan perimeter across the upper arc, leaving only faint traces visible along the extreme edge of the die strike.

Reverse Iconographic Composition

The reverse design integrates the two youngest sons into the traditional gold solidus motif. At the center stands a tall cross potent raised upon three steps, symbolizing Golgotha and the True Cross, an emblem established on Byzantine imperial coinage during the late sixth century under Tiberius II Constantine.

Flanking the stepped cross are the junior Augusti Heraclius on the left and Tiberius on the right. Both figures are shown standing full-length facing forward, beardless, wearing imperial crowns with cross crests and long formal chlamydes. Each brother holds a globus cruciger in his right hand, oriented toward the central cross. Beneath the three steps, a horizontal groundline separates the figural field from the exergue.

Reverse Epigraphy and Inscriptions

The reverse perimeter inscription is executed in Latin uncial lettering, standardly reading VICTORIA AVGЧ followed by a Greek numeral indicating the mint workshop or officina. Modern numismatists transcribe the final character of the main legend as either V or U, reflecting the uncial letter Ч.

The expanded form reads as Victoria Augusti ("Victory of the Augustus") or Victoria Augustorum ("Victory of the Augusti"), serving as a traditional declaration of triumph for the collegial administration. In the exergue below the stepped groundline sits the standard mint mark CONOB, standing for Constantinopoli obryzum, certifying the coin as pure, refined gold issued at the Constantinople mint.

On comparison specimen Cleveland Museum of Art 2012.22, the word VICTORIA remains legible along the left border beginning around the 8 o'clock position, whereas the right perimeter is weakly struck or off-flan, preventing definitive confirmation of the terminating workshop letter without comparative die study. The exergual letters CONOB remain crisp and intact beneath the steps.

Typology and Documented Variants

In major numismatic reference systems, Constantinople solidi of Constans II are arranged across seven sequential typological classes based on imperial portraiture and reverse devices:

  • Class I (641–646): Constans II alone, beardless, with cross potent on three steps.
  • Class II (646–651): Constans II alone, short beard, with cross potent on three steps.
  • Class III (651–654): Constans II alone, long beard, with cross potent on three steps.
  • Class IV (654–659): Constans II and Constantine IV on obverse, with cross potent on three steps on reverse.
  • Class V (659–661): Constans II and Constantine IV on obverse, with long cross on globe flanked by standing Heraclius and Tiberius on reverse.
  • Class VI (ca. 661/662–667/668): Constans II and Constantine IV on obverse, with cross potent on three steps restored between standing Heraclius and Tiberius on reverse.
  • Class VII (ca. 659–661 or 663–668): Constans II alone on obverse, with three sons standing on reverse without a central stepped cross.

Class VI is catalogued under Sear SBCV 964, Dumbarton Oaks Collection Class VI (nos. 30a–39b), and Wolfgang Hahn's MIB III no. 31. Documented emissions reflect production across all ten regular workshops of the capital, indicated by officina numerals A through I (A, B, Γ, Δ, Є, Ϛ or S, Z, H, Θ, I). Minor sub-varieties exhibit supplementary control marks such as pellets or cross symbols flanking the primary legends or exergual signature.

Scholarly Debates and Attribution Limitations

Numismatic discussions regarding Class VI focus on two related issues: chronological sequence and individual specimen completeness.

In standard arrangements formulated by Philip Grierson and Wolfgang Hahn, the late solidus issues follow the sequence Class V (659–661) to Class VI (661/662–667/668) to Class VII (663–668 or 667–668). This dating relied heavily on the 1877 Athens Asclepeion hoard, associated with the passage of Constans II to the West in 662. Because this hoard contained fresh Class VI pieces alongside an isolated Class VII specimen, Grierson considered the latter intrusive or suspect to preserve his timeline.

A revised chronological model proposed by David Woods argues that Class VII actually preceded Classes V and VI, having been introduced immediately after the elevation of Heraclius and Tiberius in 659. In this interpretation, the initial omission of the traditional stepped cross in Class VII provoked administrative reconsiderations, leading first to the compromise cross-on-globe of Class V and culminating in the reintroduction of the stepped cross in Class VI around late 661 or 662.

Institutional dating systems also reflect these differing frameworks. The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogues its comparison piece 2012.22 to 659–661, marking the elevation year of the younger sons, whereas standard references assign the stepped four-figure Class VI type to ca. 661/662–667/668.

Attribution limitations apply directly when examining off-center strikes. Comparative specimen CMA 2012.22 weighs 4.13 g with a diameter of 1.9 cm; because its terminal officina character is off-flan, the coin cannot be attributed to a specific workshop sub-variety without die matching. For uninspected specimens, physical metrology and workshop identification remain provisional until verified by direct examination.

References

  1. Cleveland Museum of Art Object Record 2012.22: Solidus of Constans II and Constantine IV. Accession 2012.22, physical metrics and curated metadata
  2. Cleveland Museum of Art Reverse Asset 2012.22.b. High-resolution reverse image and legend inspection
  3. Woods, David. 'Muʽāwiya, Constans II and Coins without Crosses.' Israel Numismatic Research 10 (2015). pp. 169–181
  4. Grierson, Philip. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2: Heraclius Antoninus to Theodosius III (602–717). pp. 402–405, 431–433
  5. Sear, David R. Byzantine Coins and Their Values (2nd ed.). Entry SBCV 964, p. 208
  6. Hahn, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Byzantini (MIB III): Von Heraclius bis Leo III. / Alleinregierung (610–720). Clearly labelled further reading; p. 138, no. 31