★ Very Rare IRENE ★

IRENE (797-802). Follis. Constantinople. AE
ЄIRINH ЬAS./ Crowned facing bust, holding cruciform sceptre and globus cruciger.
Rev: Large M; X/X/X - N/N/N across field, cross above and A below.
Sear 1600.
Very Rare and beatifull patina.
5.72 gr. 23 mm
Irene of Athens, Empress of the Byzantine Empire, was the first woman to the Empire in her own name. First a regent for her son Constantine VI, then deposing him and ruling on her own, Irene is remembered by some as a great empress, or even a saint, who helped defeat the inconoclasts. To others, she is a woman who led the empire into a dark period and committed "one of the foulest murders that even byzantine history has to record