BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Constans II, AD 641-668

AE Follis. 3.63g, 23.3 x 20.3mm MINTED: Carthage mint, circa AD 647-659 REF: Constantinople mint, RY 12 (AD 652/3) OBVERSE: EN TVTO NIKA, Constans standing facing, holding long cross and globus cruciger.

REVERSE: Large M; cross above, A/N/A - N/E/O/S across field, XII in exergue.

Grade/Notes:

Very Fine. 

Historical Notes:

Constans II, nicknamed 'the Bearded', was grandson and a successor of Emperor Heraclius (AD 610-641). He unsuccessfully attempted to seek a compromise between adherents of Christian Orthodoxy and Monothelitism within the Empire, and at one point he was even forced to arrest and exile the Pope (Martin I). Constans also struggled to forestall the advance of the Arab Caliphate into Empire's eastern territories, even losing a huge fleet of 500 ships at the Battle of the Masts in 655. In 663, Constans visited Rome, the first emperor to do so in two centuries. Historical records in ancient China mention embassies sent by Constans II to the court of the Tang Emperor, Taizong, in 643 and 667.