TYPE Byzantine Empire, Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328 AD), bronze assarion, struck 1302/3, 1.73g DESCRIPTION . Obv: Emperor and co-emperor Michael IX, each crowned in loros, jointly holding long cross, Greek legend ANDRONIK MIH (part. blundered) Rev: Large Greek "ni - alpha", pellet and ligature mark above (indiction year 1 = 1302/3 AD) REFERENCE: SB 2432, DO 659-60, Ben 164 GRADING: AF, darker patina, flan crack, rare ORDER INFO: B2091, $62 A rare issue and general type altogether, given the indiction-based dating on the reverse, nicer than the two Dumbarton Oaks specimens for this year. While dating based on indictions - 15-year cycles from the "creation of Earth", used officially from times of Christian Rome - was popular on Byzantine coinage around the time of Heraclius, its brief appearance on Palaiologan issues is somewhat puzzling, though valuable for more precise dating of an otherwise difficult series.