Obv. DDNNhЄRACLIVSЄThЄRACONSTPPA; on the left, a bust of the emperor facing, wearing a crown and a chlamys with a brooch, with long mustaches and a beard, on the right, a slightly lower bust of the co-ruler facing, with a short beard, in a chlamys with a brooch.
Rev. VICTORIA – AVᲺЧΓ; cross potent on three steps; in ex., CONOB.
Gold, 4.43 g, 21.2 mm. DOC 26. Sear 749. Almost Extremely Fine, brillantly visible portraits on Obv. and an unusually well legible legend. Lustre on both faces. Such well-readable and preserved specimens are much desired and high-priced.
Even reputable numismatic shops and coin boxing
companies (in the latter case hardly surprising) notoriously misattribute coins
of Heraclius with Heraclius Constantine to the next generation of the dynasty:
Constans II with Constantine IV (see e.g. Solidus 113 sale: 1248; https://www.cgcoins.com/products/654-ngc-ms-constans-ii-gold-solidus-byzantine-empire-mint-state-constantinople-mint-coin-19010402c?variant=22430452449338;
https://www.romancoinshop.com/en/constans-ii-gold-solidus-with-his-son!-(ja21175)/;
https://www.money.org/blog/tag/moufeed-freihat). The reason is the similarity
of the long-bearded depictions of Heraclius I and Constans, and - often - poor
legibility of the legends, which must be read carefully (and boxing companies
cover them). In this case, the legend is perfectly readable for professionals: domini
nostri Heraclius et Heraclius Constantinus perpetui augusti. The elder
Heraclius took power as a result of the uprising against Emperor Phocas, who
murdered the previous dynasty. The dynastic succession of the new emperor's
descendants was therefore an important message of the coin types. Placed next
to his father, his almost equal co-ruler (appointed in 613), Heraclius
Constantine (Constantine III), is the eldest son of the emperor by his first
wife, Eudokia. He reigned after his father's death for only three months, after
which he died of tuberculosis.
