An rare solidus of Alexander (912-913).  This is a classic rarity for Byzantine gold coins, due to the fact that this is the only gold type issued during a very short reign. The current census is about 20 pieces and this piece is one of the top 5. There is some slight cabinet friction and softness of strike, but otherwise it is an extremely nice example. More than half of the other surviving examples have problems, like the one that was recently sold in the Sotheby's November 2nd 1998 sale. That coin had a dig across the head of Alexander on the reverse, but still brought major money. Several others are known with holes in them. This piece weighs 4.35g.

January 1999 Imitative Piece of the Month
 

An obvious contemporary imitative piece of Phocas, prpbably struck in the Balkins or surrounding area. This is another example of a close, but not intended to be perfect copy..  It was struck as indicated by the die crack on obverse.  It was found among within a hoard of contemporary coinage and has graffiti on both the obverse and reverse that appears also to be contemporary.  The lettering and images are crude, but basically correct. The color of the piece is that of a less than pure alloy. This piece weighs 4.09g and does not appear to have been clipped.