AE Follis, 30mm, 18.01g, 7h, Constantinople mint off. B or more likely E
Sear 19
O: diad draped bust r, DNANASTA----SIVSPPAVC
R: large M with cross atop, B or E below, stars to right and left and CON in ex.
Anastasius is well known for his achievements in finance that kept the Byzantine Empire in the black for some time to come after his death. Though he should also be remembered for his long life at a time when most people were fortunate to reach 30. Anastasius was born around CE 430 and died approximately 88 years later in CE 518. There are records of others who lived well past their "sell by dates" in antiquity, but Anastasius lived nearly three average life spans.
Anastasius wasn't the only person in antiquity that lived to a ripe old age. While were on the subject of long lives in antiquity, there is a fragmentary tombstone of a veteran of Legio II Augusta from Caerleon, UK that reads: "To the spirits of the departed. Julius Valens, veteran of the Second Legion Augusta, lived 100 years. Julia Secundina, his wife and Julius Martinus, his son, had set this up." It's thought that this stone dates from the early third century CE. (reference: page 142 of Wacher, J The Coming of Rome, London, RKP, 1979 a volume in the "Britain Before the Conquest" series).
