Item number: A3597

Year: AD 647-654

Material: Gold

Size: 18.6 x 17.4 x 1.1 mm

Weight: 4.1 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin is an imitation of a solidus of the Byzantine emperor Constans II, issued by an unknown authority, possibly one of the regimes along the Silk Road, though it is most likely to have originated from a former Byzantine province under Arab rule.

The obverse, which should depict the frontal bust of Constans II, has been crudely simplified into a series of rough incised lines. Only the outlines of the hair, eyes, nose, moustache, and beard are visible, while the robe and hands are rendered as pairs of curved strokes. The inscription above the portrait appears deformed through the coarse process of replication but was probably intended to read N COHSTAN-TINV. The initial “N” is likely a mistaken or abbreviated form of “DN”, standing for Dominus Noster (“Our Lord”), a common imperial honorific from the late Roman Empire onwards. “COHSTAN-TINV” designates “Constans”.

The reverse shows a cross potent standing upon a three-tiered base, surrounded by the inscription VICTORIA AVGV, meaning “Victory of the Augustus (Emperor)”.

In AD 610, Heraclius I overthrew Phocas and became emperor. He successfully defeated the Sasanian Persians and recovered the lost provinces of Syria and Egypt, founding the Heraclian dynasty. However, this protracted war, lasting several decades, exhausted the Empire’s finances and manpower and indirectly enabled the rapid rise of the Arab Caliphate, which within a few decades seized most of Byzantium’s territories in the Middle East and North Africa—including Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Carthage—drastically reducing imperial frontiers. Internal religious conflicts and heavy taxation further provoked public discontent, while the loss of eastern provinces undermined the economic foundation of imperial authority. In his later years, Heraclius was troubled by succession disputes; upon his death in AD 641, civil unrest followed. In the same year, his grandson Constans II ascended the throne at the age of eleven. During his early reign, the government was dominated by regents and ecclesiastical factions, but Constans gradually consolidated power, implementing military and administrative reforms aimed at restoring central control. He redirected the Empire’s strategic focus westward—defending the Balkans and Italy against Arab and Lombard threats—and eventually transferred the capital temporarily to Syracuse in Sicily in an effort to revitalise Byzantine influence in the Mediterranean. His rigid policies and distrust of the eastern aristocracy, however, aroused resentment, and in AD 668 he was assassinated at Syracuse.

The solidus, established by Constantine the Great around AD 312 to replace the inflation-ridden aureus, literally means “soldier’s pay”. It became the most emblematic gold coin of the Roman and Byzantine empires for over seven centuries. Weighing about 4.5 grams and of exceptionally high purity, it maintained a stable standard for centuries and served as the principal gold-based currency in both internal circulation and international trade. Its design and fineness influenced later gold denominations such as the denarius aureus, and its enduring reliability made it the cornerstone of the Byzantine monetary system.

物件編號: A3597

年代: 公元 647-654 年

材質: 金

尺寸: 18.6 x 17.4 x 1.1 mm

重量: 4.1 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚仿造拜占庭帝國君士坦斯二世的索利都斯金幣，製造者不明，可能來自絲路沿線政權，但最有可能來自阿拉伯人征服的前拜占庭行省。

金幣正面原應為君士坦斯二世正面半身像，但簡省為粗略的線條。肖像部分僅存髮線、眼睛、鼻樑、唇上橫鬚、落腮鬍等線條。長袍及雙手則略為一雙層的長條曲線。肖像上方幣銘或因粗糙的翻製而變形，原本可能為「N COHSTAN-TINV 」，「N」可能為「DN」的省誤或略寫，意為「主宰者」(Dominus Noster)，羅馬帝國晚期起便是皇帝的常見尊號。 「COHSTAN-TINV」則指「君士坦斯」。

背面中央為立在三層檯座上的「拐杖十字」(cross potent)，周圍幣銘可能是「VICTORIA AVGV」，意為「奧古斯都(皇帝)的勝利」。

希拉克略一世於公元610年，推翻福卡斯即位為帝，後成功擊敗薩珊波斯並奪回被侵佔的敘利亞與埃及，開創了希拉克略王朝。但這場長達數十年的戰爭耗盡了帝國的財政與軍力，隨後間接導致阿拉伯帝國迅速崛起，於短短數十年間奪去拜占庭在中東與北非的大部分領土，包括敘利亞、巴勒斯坦、埃及與迦太基等行省，使帝國的疆域大幅縮減。而內部的宗教紛爭與稅收壓力加劇了民怨，東方行省的喪失更削弱了皇權的經濟基礎。希拉克略晚年為繼承為題所困擾，其於公元641年逝世，帝國旋即陷入內亂。最終於同年，由其孫，君士坦斯二世即位，其時年僅十一歲。君士坦斯二世的早期統治由宮廷攝政與宗教派系主導，但君士坦斯二世逐漸鞏固權力，推行軍事與行政改革，試圖恢復中央控制。他將帝國的戰略重心轉向西方，先在巴爾幹與義大利防禦阿拉伯與倫巴第的威脅，後更將首都暫時遷往敘拉古(Syracuse)，以重振帝國在地中海的影響力。然而，他的強硬政策與對東方貴族的不信任引起不滿，最終於公元668年在敘拉古被暗殺。

索里都斯金幣(solidus)由君士坦丁大帝於公元312年左右創立，用以取代通貨膨脹嚴重的奧里斯金幣(aureus)。幣名意為「士兵的薪水」。是羅馬與拜占庭帝國長達七百多年中最具代表性的金幣。索里都斯的重量約為4.5克，成色極高，並在之後數百年間保持穩定，成為帝國內部與國際貿易中的主要金本位貨幣，並影響了之後第納里烏斯等金幣的形制。