AE Follis; 24 x 19 mm, 5.21 g, 6h, Constantinople mint.
SB 1607
O: facing portraits of Nicephoros l and Stauracius r with + in between
R: Large M with A below and + above with XXX on left and NNN on right.
Nicephoros was killed at the Battled of Pliska in CE 811 by troops of the Bulgar Khan, Krum (d. CE 814). Krum took Nicephoros' skull, had it plated in silver and made into a drinking vessel. Which John Julius Norwich indicates was used for the remainder of Krum's life as his drinking cup. (p. 124 "A Short History of Byzantium" NY 1997).
Stauracius is remembered for having the shortest reign of approximately 68 days as Byzantine emperor before abdicating and succumbing to his wounds received in the battle which was a severed spine and paralysis from a neck wound.
