Phocas, 602-610. Solidus (Gold, 22 mm, 4.49 g, 6 h), Constan­tinople, 5th officina = E, 607-610. d N FOCAS PERP AVI Crowned, draped and cuirassed bust of Phocas facing, holding a globus cruciger in his right hand. Rev. VICTORIA AVGЧ E / CONOB Angel standing facing, holding globus cruciger in his left hand and long, rho-topped cross in his right. DOC 10e. MIB 9. SB 620. Extremely sharp and lustrous. Apparently struck at least three times (!), but all on the correct sides rather than being flipped over, otherwise, virtually as struck.

An amusingly curious minting mistake! The Byzantines must have struck truly enormous amounts of gold coins, given how many have survived (remember, even greater numbers of coins were, in the past, simply melted down when found). But most were carefully minted: really bad errors were certainly caught in the mint and re-struck. One wonders whether the minters were having fun when they made this piece!