★ The image of an extremely rare female saint ★

Leon, bishop of Alia, 11th century. Seal (Lead, 23 mm, 8.58 g, 12 h). +Θ[K]Є R, - TⲰ CⲰ Δ, - MHP - ΘV The Mother of God, nimbate, both hands half-raised before her, palms outward. Rev. +ΛЄONT, ЄΠICKOΠⲰ AΛIA - H / A/ΓI/A / Є-[ΛΙ]/KO/NI Facing bust Saint Helikonis, holding a martyr's cross. Papillon 4 (2020), 550 (for a similar seal). An interesting bishop's seal with the image of an extremely rare female saint. Some deposits and areas of weakness, otherwise, very fine.

From a European collection, formed before 2005.

Occasionally, parallel examples of otherwise unidentified seals can complement each other splendidly. The parallel seal, auctioned in 2020, features a clear right reverse field that completes the letters ΛΙ in the saint's name. Conversely, on our seal, the name of the bishopric of Alia is legible, whereas it was obscured on the parallel seal. Saint Helikonis of Thessalonica, a martyr during the persecution under Roman emperor Trajan Decius, is rarely depicted on seals. Alia or Halia served as a suffragan bishopric to the metropolis of Neocaesarea (Darrouzes, Notitiae 7, 318). A seal belonging to Bishop Theognostos of Alia was previously part of the Zacos collection (Zacos 1055).