Solidus of Heraclius
dN hERACLIUS PP AVG, 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 four steps; mintmark CONOB.
Heraclius (Greek: Ἡράκλειος), r. 610-41, is depicted as sole emperor. The cross potent on four steps 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: 18.5mm
Weight: AV; 4.49 g
Object Number: 31-50-397 (Field No. 30-10-370)
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.