★ An extremely rare rendering of Tiberius III on a lead seal ★

Konstantinos, apo eparchon and genikos kommerkiarios of the Apotheke of Constantinopolis (?), IY 14 and 15, 700-702. Seal (Lead, 20x30 mm, 15.47 g, 11 h). [K]ωNCTAN[TINOV AΠO] ЄΠAPXωN; in left field, two 'Indiction' symbols; in right field, IΔ/IЄ Tiberius III (Apsimar) standing facing, wearing crown and chlamys, holding globus cruciger. Rev. [S ΓЄNI]/KOV KOMM/ЄPKIAPIOV / AΠOΘHKHC / [...] in six (?) lines. Likhachev, Datirovannye p. 174, no. 1 (Mesembria). Zacos/Veglery 202 (Constantinopolis). An extremely rare rendering of Tiberius III on a lead seal. Some oxidation and struck on a short blank, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

As kommerkiarios, our Konstantinos was in charge of collecting taxes in the so-called 'apotheke' of Constantinopolis (or perhaps Mesembria). 'Apothekai' were places where taxes in kind were collected and stored and which served as centers for trade and exchange of goods. This lucrative post had been assigned to Konstantinos for two years, and was recorded on his seal. Apart from the emperor himself, only kommerkiarioi had the right to use the imperial image on their seals.