BYZANTINE EMPIRE: Constantine V Copronymus, 741-775, AR miliaresion (2.08g), Constantinople, S-1554, overstruck on an Umayyad dirham of Dimashq AH91 (type A-128) (=709/710 AD), with the full mint & date legible, and parts of the central inscriptions of the Umayyad dirham also legible; slightly chipped at the edge, but overall very attractive, VF-EF, RRR. A fervent iconoclast, Constantine questioned the legitimacy of any representation of God or Christ. His destruction of religious iconography and persecution of the opposition led to his vilification by later Byzantine historians and writers, who denigrated him with the epithet Copronymus, "the dung-named."
