Solidus of Phocas
dN FOCAS PERP AVG, facing bust of Phocas, with mustache and pointed beard; draped and cuirassed, wearing crown with pendilla and cross on orb, holding cross in left hand / VICTORI(A) AVGU; officina letter (E?); victory figure standing frontal, holding staff with Christogram in left hand and globus cruciger in right hand; mintmark CONOB.
The emperor Phocas (Greek: Φωκᾶς), r. 602-610, is depicted as sole emperor. Phocas reintroduced the Victory figure holding a long staff with a Christogram or a long cross, which was replaced with a cross potent on steps by Tiberius II Constantine (r. 574-582) and reinstated by Heraclius in 610.
Provenience: CN 270, Found in Room H along with other coins and jewelry of the Our Lady Monastery, Beth Shean, 1930
Date: 602–610 C.E.
Length: 19mm
Weight: AV; 4.48 g
Object Number: 31-50-394 (Field No. 30-10-369)
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.