These terrific Byzantine gold pieces feature emperor Heraclius and his son Heraclius Constantine. Both are crowned and ornately dressed with a cross in the field between their heads. The reverse shows a Cross Potent on three steps. The coins we offer here are in About Uncirculated or better condition! Like most ancient and byzantine coins, designs can vary slightly.
Heraclius, Emperor of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, reorganized the Byzantine imperial administration and the imperial armies and strengthened the Empire in the process. During his reign, pivotal changes took place in the Balkans and the Middle East. At about the age of 35, Heraclius was sent to Constantinople by his father, the governor of the Roman province of Africa, to deal with the crisis precipitated by the incompetent emperor Phocas. Upon his arrival he deposed Phocas, thus inheriting an Empire in shambles.
Over the next two decades, Heraclius succeeded in driving out the Slavs, Persians, and Turkic Avars that had occupied Byzantine territory. His brilliance on the battlefield was matched by political shrewdness. Although his notable personal devotion to Christianity helped his reputation, his attempts to heal the divisions among Christian sects failed. In 634, Muslim Arabs swept into Syria, and Heraclius, too weary from years of fighting, did not take personal command of the military. The Byzantines were defeated, and both Syria and Egypt fell to Arab forces. Heraclius died a few years later, possibly from prostate troubles.
