TYPE Byzantine Empire, Leo III Isaurian (717-741 AD), bronze follis, Syracuse mint, Class 3 (721-30 AD), 22mm, 2.47g as clipped DESCRIPTION . Obv: Leo III bearded, facing, wearing crown and chlamys and holding gl. cr., legend '[...] TAN PO [...]' (?) Rev: Constantine V, bearded (!), wearing crown and chlamys and holding akakia and gl. cr.; uncertain legend trace '[...] OAEN [...]'; all over exergual line with denomination (M = 40) flanked by mintmark "[SC] - L" (image double resolution) REFERENCE: cf. SB 1530, DO 54 var. GRADING: AVF / VF+, porous-encrusted green-brown patina, unpubl. var. of rare type ORDER INFO: B2343, $135 A mysterious specimen in that it is certainly from Sicily ("[SC] - L" to right of rev. M) and therefore, based on obverse, typologically rather narrowly and uniquely defined as Leo III's Class 3 (721-30. DO 54). Yet, the obverse (encrusted, but partially visible) legend implies something like TAN PO - certainly not along the lines of published Leo legends and more akin to a Constantine - while the reverse (also with legend trace - 4 letters, encrusted and harder to discern, though relatively bold) has an apparently bearded ruler, contrary to all descriptions for this type.