Object Description
Constantinople, Ca. AD 776-780
Leo IV and Constantine VI Av. solidus, Constantinople. LEON VS EGGON CONSTANTINOS O NEOS θ; crowned facing busts of Leo IV and Constantine VI, each wearing chlamys, dot between their heads, cross above. Rev. LEON PAPS CONSTANTINOS PATHR; crowned facing busts of Leo III and Constantine V, each wearing loros, dot between their heads, cross above. SB 1583; DOC III 1b.
Leo IV became the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire following his father’s death in AD 775. Nicknamed “The Khazar”, Leo IV’s son Constantine VI was proclaimed co-emperor aged just 6 years old, on account of his father’s poor health. Portraits of both co-emperors feature on the obverses of all coins of Leo IV, differentiated in age only by Leo IV’s gaunt and bearded face. In keeping with the concern for family portraiture and dynastic propaganda, the portraits of Leo III and Constantine V appear on the reverse of this coin, identified as “father” and “grandfather” by the coin legend.
For additional information see:
Grierson, P., 1999, Byzantine Coinage (2nd ed.), Washington.
Size: D: 21mm; 4.4g