Just got my copy of "
Arab-Byzantine Coins" by Clive Foss, and I'd highly recommend it. One item not mentioned there is this odd 12 nummia coin with the horizontal
bar of the
cross apparently converted into a very broad and thin crescent. Is this just a mis-striking of some sort, or is it perhaps an interesting variant?
Foss mentions one
type that I hadn't seen before, the so-called "lazy B" (based on the pretzel-like object above the "m" on the
reverse). On my specimen the emperor's
portrait has a very large and anomalous headpiece, so I
had assumed that we were dealing with turbans on both sides of the coin (replacing the
cross over the
head and also the
cross above the "m"). But apparently it's just a horizontal "B"??
One final request: How does one identify the so-called "
oriens" coinage struck in
Syria in the name of
Justin II,
Maurice,
Focas and
Heraclius during the Persian occupation? Is there something specific to look for? Does somebody have pictures of these coins? Thanks a lot!
