Obv: IMP CONSTANTINVS P AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right. Rev: SOLI INVICTO COMITI T-F, Sol standing left, chlamys falling from left shoulder, holding globe and raising right hand, mintmark PLN. 4.42 grams, 23 mm.

Extremely fine.

Property of a North London, UK, gentleman.

Obv: IM CAE MAGN-ENTIVS AVG, bare-headed, draped, cuirassed bust right, A behind bust. Rev: FEL TEMP-REPARATIO, emperor standing left on galley, holding Victory and labarum, Victory seated at the helm, A in left field, mintmark TRS. 4.89 grams, 21 mm.

Very fine and better.

Ex Compton Dundon Hoard. Property of a North London, UK, gentleman.

Aquileia mint. Obv: [DN FL VI]CTOR P F AVG legend with diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: [VIRTVS RO]MANORVM legend with Roma seated facing holding orb and long sceptre; mintmark AQ PS in exergue. 1.03 grams, 16mm.

Good very fine; a large fragment. Scarce.

Found Essex, UK. Accompanied by a collector ticket.

Obv: +IhS XPS REX REGNANTIUM*, Christ Pantocrator nimbate, seated facing, raising right hand in benediction and holding book of gospels. Rev: ROMAn ET XPISTOFO' AUGG b', facing busts of Romanus I with short beard and loros, on left, and son, beardless, with chlamys, on right, both crowned and holding long patriarchal cross between them. 4.37 grams, 21 mm.

About extremely fine.

Ex Richard Falkiner, 2000s.

Romanos Lekapenos was a usurper. Of peasant origins he rose through the ranks of the military into the imperial court eventually ousting the regency government of Zoe Karvounopsina and Leo Phokas that had been ruling in the name of the underage heir to the Macedonian dynasty, Constantine VII. After marrying the young Constantine porphyrogennitos to his daughter Helena in 919, Romanos named himself basileopater, (‘Father of the Emperor’), was raised to the rank of Caesar in 920, and crowned emperor later the same year. He associated three of his sons (Christopher, Stephen, and Constantine) with himself, while the fourth, Theophylakt, was later named patriarch.

Obv: + IhS XIS REX REGNANTInm, bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cross ornamented with two crescents in the limbs of the cross, holding book of Gospels and raising right hand. Rev: + bASIL C COnStAntI b Rm, crowned facing busts of Basil with short beard on left, wearing loros of square pattern, and Constantine VIII, beardless on right, wearing chlamys, holding plain cross between them. 4.43 grams, 27 mm.

Extremely fine.

Ex Richard Falkiner, 2000s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no 12032-212137.

Basil II was the senior emperor with Constantine VII and ruled from 976 -1025 A.D. The early years of his long reign were dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. Following their submission, Basil oversaw the stabilisation and expansion of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire, and above all, the final and complete subjugation of Bulgaria, the Empire's foremost European foe, after a prolonged struggle. For this he was nicknamed by later authors as the Bulgar-slayer; (Greek: Boulgaroktonos), by which he is popularly known. At his death, the empire stretched from Southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the borders of Palestine, its greatest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests four centuries earlier. Of far-reaching importance was Basil's decision to offer the hand of his sister Anna to Vladimir I of Kiev in exchange for military support, which led to the Christianisation of the Kievan Rus, and the incorporation of later successor nations of Kievan Rus within the Byzantine cultural and religious tradition.

Obv: +IhS XIS REX REGNANTInM, Christ enthroned facing, nimbus cross behind head, holding book of gospels and raising right hand, double border. Rev: QCE bOHQ MQRWMAnW, Romanus on left, wearing a saccos and loros and holding cross on globe, with *seven* dots on the fold of robe hanging below, being crowned by Mary, nimbate, on right, (MQ between their heads), double border. 4.40 grams, 23 mm.

Extremely fine.

Ex Richard Falkiner, 2000s.

The histamenon (‘standard coin’) was the name given to the gold Byzantine solidus to distinguish it from the less valuable tertarteron introduced in the 960s. Nomisma is the ancient Greek word for money.

Thessalonica mint. Obv: +KERO-HQEI IC-XC, Christ enthroned facing on throne with back, holding book of gospels. Rev: MQ-QV, IW DEC PO TH (or similar) above, emperor, wearing divitision and loros and holding cross on globe, standing on left, being crowned by Mary, nimbate, on right. 4.45 grams, 27 mm.

Good very fine.

Ex Richard Falkiner, 2000s.

The traditional gold currency of the Byzantine Empire had been the solidus or nomisma, whose gold content had remained steady at 24 carats for seven centuries and was consequently highly prized. From the 1030s, however, the coin was increasingly debased, until in the 1080s, following the military disasters and civil wars of the previous decade, its gold content was reduced to almost zero. Consequently in 1092, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118) undertook a drastic overhaul of the Byzantine coinage system and introduced a new gold coin, the hyperpyron (meaning super-refined). This was of the same standard weight (4.45 grams) as the solidus, but of less gold content (20.5 carats instead of 24) due to the recycling of earlier debased coins. The hyperpyron remained the standard gold coin until gold coins ceased to be minted by the Byzantines in the mid 14th century. It too, however, was subject to gradual debasement: under the Empire of Nicaea (1204-1261), its gold content fell gradually to 18 carats, under Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282) to 15 and under his son and successor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282-1328) to 12 carats. At the same time, the quality of the coins declined as well, and in the 14th century, their weight was far from uniform. The last hyperpyra, and thus the last Byzantine gold coins, were struck by Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347-1352). The name remained in use thereafter solely as a money of account, divided into 24 keratia. The name was adopted in various forms by Western Europeans (Latin: perperum, Italian: perpero) and the Slavic countries of the Balkans (perper, iperpero, etc.) designating various coins, usually silver, as well as moneys of account. More often in the West the hyperpyron was called the bezant, especially among Italian merchants.

Numbered 2787 and 2788, in favour of William Isham, having served in the Connecticut Line of the Continental Army, each for the inked sum of Nine Pounds Two Shillings, signed by J Lawrence, Treasurer and redeemable 1789, with interest payable annually; the reverse with ink endorsements confirming payment of interest each year from 1783 to 1789, with signatures of the treasurers each year, including J. Lawrence, Richard Butler and Jonathon Jeffrey and signed also by the recipient; triple holed to cancel. 10 grams, 20.8 x 20 cm.

Fine condition; old folds, top edge slightly torn. Scarce as a multiple.

UK gallery, early 2000s.

These bonds had to be produced each year for payment of the interest due and at final redemption; most surviving examples, having been in use over a period of some seven years or more, show very considerable wear, tear and damage; this example is better than many seen. William Isham (1759-1849) enlisted 'for the duration of the war' as a private at Colchester on 5th May 1777, aged 17 years in the Company of Captain Daniel Allen in the 3rd Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Line which served in the First Brigade, initially along the Hudson River; his grave can still be seen at St Albans, now Franklin County, Vermont, U.S.A.

Group comprising: bronze fractions of various issues and types. 37.72 grams total, 15-22 mm.

Fine-very fine.

Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.

Obv: BASILEWS BASILEWN MEGALOU AZOU legend, emperor on horseback right, holding whip and raising right hand, bow on his back. Rev: Kharosthi legend around Athena standing right, holding transverse spear and shield, A monogram below. 2.29 grams, 14.63 mm.

Very fine.

Property of a South West London gentleman.

Group comprising: silver fractions of various issues and types. 8.14 grams total, 11-16 mm.

Fair-good fine.

Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.

Obv: forepart of boar left. rev: irregular incuse square. 10.76 grams, 18 mm.

Fine.

From the collection of an London antiquarian, 1980s.