THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
Romanus II, 9 (?) November 959 – 15 March 963, with colleagues from 960
Solidus circa 949–959, AV 4.19 g. +IhS XPS ReX ReGNANTIYM Facing bust of Christ, nimbus with three pellets in each limb, wearing pallium and colobium , helding r. hand horizontally and turned inwards in benediction and holding the Book of Gospels in l. Rev. ROMAN Aot – oCRAT ,R’O’w‘ Facing bearded bust of Romanus II, wearing heavy crown with cross and pendilia and elaborated jeweled robes, holding globus surmounted by long cross. DO obverse 2 reverse 1 (this die). Sear 1774.
Excessively rare . Only the fourth specimen known and the only one in private hands.
An issue of a tremendous historical importance for the almost total
absence of coinage for this emperor. Some traces of edge
filing, otherwise good very fine
When Romanus II ascended the throne in 959 at the age of twenty-one, having ruled jointly with his father, Constantine VII, since 945 he showed no interest in the affairs of state, instead indulging his tastes for drink and pleasure-seeking. His lack of concern in governing the empire seems odd given that his first acts upon becoming emperor were to purge his father’s advisors, banish his mother, and force his sisters into convents, all things that might be construed as securing his position. It may be that his wife, Theophano, the daughter of a poor tavern-keeper from Laconia, played a part in these events. Despite her humble origins, she was intelligent and shrewd, and at the time it was rumored that she and her husband had poisoned Constantine VII.
Regardless of the circumstances under which Romanus ascended the throne, his reign was short, for he died in 963, just three years after becoming sole emperor. Having had little time to strike coinage due to his short reign, and perhaps also partly due to the prolific coinage of his father that was still in circulation, very little coinage in Romanus’ name was ever struck. His first issue of solidi seems to have been coins using dies of his father with the legend on the reverse crudely recut, and in recent years a small handful of these have come to light (see F. Füeg, ”Vom Umgang mit Zufall und Wahrscheinlichkeit in der numismatischen Forschung, SNR 76 [1997], app. IV, 15.B.4; DO class XV, 22). His only other solidi are two excessively rare types, DO 1 and 2, both of which were thought to be unique at the time the Dumbarton Oaks catalogue was published, although a further example of DO 2 came to light after the publication of the catalogue. The coin offered here is the second known example of DO 1.