HERACLIUS GOLD SOLIDUS – THREE KINGS TYPE – AU NGC GRADED BYZANTINE COIN (Inv. 20510)

$1,300.00

20510. BYZANTINE EMPIRE. HERACLIUS WITH HERACLIUS CONSTANTINE AND HERACLONAS, AD 632-641.
Gold Solidus, 4.43 g, 20 mm. Issue of Constantinople, officina Δ.
Obv. Facing and crowned standing figures of Heraclius in center, Heraclius Constantine at right and Heraclonas, uncrowned but with cross above, at left. Rev. VICTORIA AVGЧ Δ, cross on stepped base, monogram in left field, CONOB in exergue.
Sear 758; DO 33.
NGC graded AU, Strike 4/5, Surface 2/5, “graffito,” lustrous, with an exceptional rendition of the imperial family, well centered with superb details of the faces on each of the figures.

The grouping of imperial personages on these coins recalls the Biblical “Three Kings” and was often referred to as such in modern popular culture; this post-antique interpretation was no doubt facilitated by the presence of the cross above Heraclonas that was taken to be the Star of the Nativity.