Solidus of Heraclius
(d)N hERA-LI PER AV, facing bust of Heraclius, with mustache and rounded beard, wearing chlamys and crown with pendilia, plume and cross on orb, holding cross in left hand / VICTORIA AVGU; officina letter E; cross potent on three steps; mintmark CONOB.
Heraclius (Greek: Ἡράκλειος), r. 610-41, is depicted as sole emperor. The cross potent is a poignant image, given that Heraclius' successfully negotiated the return of the captured True Cross from the Persians—although the motif appears as early as Tiberius II Constantine (578-582), and is thought to represent the large jeweled cross set up on Golgotha at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem by Theodosius II (408-450).
Provenience: CN 270, Found in Room H along with other coins and jewelry of the Our Lady Monastery, Beth Shean, 1930
Date: 610–641 C.E.
Length: 16.75mm
Weight: AV; 4.48 g
Object Number: 31-50-399 (Field No. 30-10-371)
Further Reading:
Fitzgerald, Gerald M. 1939. A Sixth Century Monastery at Beth-Shan. Plate 4, Figs. 1-2.
Israeli, Yael and David Mevorah. 2000. Cradle of Christianity. Fig. 95.
CN 270, This object was found in Room H along with other coins and jewelry of the Our Lady Monastery, Beth Shean, 1930. Plan from Fitzgerald, Gerald M. 1939. A Sixth Century Monastery at Beth-Shan, plate II.