Have not got it yet but it is the second seal stamp I have added to my collection.

The Virgin is the only woman listed by name in the Koran. She was the patron saint of Constantinople. Makes sense she was the protector of the city.  This was a seal used to mark official documents. This seal I would have thought in the 12th century. Nomos said it was earlier. 

BYZANTINE SEALS. Anonymous, Circa 11th century. Seal (Silver, 8 x 13 mm, 2.95 g), small round stamp with a suspension loop and part of the original chain, for preparing wax seals. MHP-ΘΟΥ (retrograde) Half length bust of Virgin Mary, orans. Possibly for ecclesiastical use. A few deposits, otherwise, very fine.

On the road again, back in a month. Here is an exceptional coin, the finest I have ever seen of this type. A city tetarteron of Andronicus, in an exceptional state. The ruler was evil, the coin however is beautiful. 

ANDRONICUS METROPOLITIAN TETARTERON SBCV-1986 DOC 5 CLBC 5.4.1

Size 20.84

Weight 4.55gm

A win from last night. I have several of his electrum trachea, they are always low in gold content. The price on this one made it a steal.

Alexius III Angelus-Comnenus (AD 1195-1203). EL aspron trachy (29mm, 4.30 gm, 6h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 3/5, edge chips. Constantinople, AD 1197-1203. IC-XC (barred), full length figure of Christ seated facing on backless throne, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, book of Gospels on lap / AΛЄZIΩΩ Δ-ЄCΠ KOMNHNΩ, Alexius III (on left) and St. Constantine (on right) standing facing, each wearing crown, divitision and loros, cruciform scepter on outer arm, both holding labarum between them. Sear 2010.

Ex Freeman & Sear, Mail Bid Sale 8 (5 February 2003), lot 548.

How about a nice A2.

One of the first coin reform Billion trachea. These are difficult to find.  Not full struck on obv but beautiful reverse. 

Alexius I  SBCV -1919  28mm 3.62g

1 minute ago, catadc said:

@Topcat7  It is exactly the same type of fake like the one you posted in this topic. Still do not understand why @Simon gives the benefit of the doubt to the "UK based" ebay sellers who throw these on the market.

1 hour ago, mcwyler said:

I don't think the sellers were duped. The first and third are proud members of this useful list of fake sellers.-

To be honest I don't know these sellers, nor do I follow them, therefore I won't condemn them fully. Just the coins they are offering now.

Last year I saw a fake on one of the lower end dealers on vcoins. All of his other material was good, so I just let him know about the issue with that coin. It came down. 

On the list of fake sellers, I saw one that I have purchased legit coins from, I am not doubting they sold fakes to get on that list but was it malicious or ignorance? 

Here is a lesser known article by an excellent researcher, he is talking about crusader coins but it is the same style for the tetartera.

https://www.academia.edu/39265926/NEW_FACTS_ON_MODERN_FAKE_COINS_OF_THE_CRUSADER_STATES

Currently on ebay, there are 6 under new listing's for tetarteron  that are all fake. The sellers are vintage items, coinhub, vallface.

I don't know if the sellers were duped, but the coins are clearly not right. One is very good that I question if it is fake or not. 

Know the coin or know the seller. 

8 hours ago, quant.geek said:

That particular type, as mentioned before, is a tough little guy to get in good condition. Congrats! I'll hold off a bit to post mine due to posting rules for this thread...

They are just guidelines Ram, no time limit, I just thought it would be better to limit each post to one coin. Like visiting a museum, you don't just look at a wall of art you visit each piece. 

I am.sorry to say it is a modern forgery, commonly seen on ebay. Most of these forgery are being sold by UK sellers and are being made in Eastern europe.

It is based off an Alexius coin half tetarteron SBCV,-1932, it is not a hard coin to find,just hard to find nicely stuck.  It was originally attributed to an unknown Greek  mint but recently this is being rethought because of the excavation in Thessalonica for the new subway, these coins are being found in the hundreds there. 

OBV Patriarchal cross on two steps.

REV Bust of emperor wearing stemma divitision and jeweled loros and in r. hand holding jeweled scepter and in l. Globus cruciger.Europe.

DOC lists 42 examples with weights ranging from .59gm to 3.22gm and sizes ranging from 13mm to 18mm

1 hour ago, Valentinian said:

Anonymous folles are mostly very common, but most are worn or very worn, so one in really good shape is special (and, for this thread, "beautiful"). Here is good example of Class I, attributed to Nicephorus III (1078-1081):

You do not see this type this nice, that's a treasure. @Valentinian

Beautiful Large example. Manuel -SBCV-1976  24mm 5.78gm. 

Simple design, simple beauty. 

I think you will know more when it is in hand. It looks well worn but congratulations.

1 hour ago, Salomons Cat said:

Stupid question from someone who doesn't own a gold coin and has never seen one:
How is the visibility of the details of an average ancient gold coin when you hold it in your hand compared to silver?

No a stupid question, in the late empire the coins were used primarily by the government, the saw less circulation than the copper and billion coins. So more detail and normally better struck. I collected for many years before I owned my first gold coin. 

37 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

I’m no expert, but besides using more indirect light to deal with the glare problem, I would recommend being very careful with the white balance. If you can include a white or grey card in the shot and then use that as your white balance reference in software (e.g. Canon DPP Pro), you’ll get much more accurate colour. Without doing this it’s pretty much impossible, I’ve found!

Thank you, I photograph on thimble sized stands, however I use a tiny box with black cloth wrapped over that, I will change it to white, I will see if it makes it easier. Thanks again. 

15 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

Hello Simon. We have a member here on NF who is a professional numismatic photographer: @HipShot Photography  Maybe he’ll be willing to share some tricks if you PM him. He also has a nice website.

I like the word professional, thank you for the info. That is valuable info for me working on a long-term project. 

16 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

Meanwhile, @Simon, when did Justinian's AEs transition from the profiles to the facing portraits? 

I do not know. I was wondering that myself. I do have another coin decades later with the emperor looking left. 

Maurice Tiberius ( 582-602 AD.) 10 nummi, I think I bought it for that novelty alone. 

31 minutes ago, Ed Snible said:

These pictures appeared on the auction catalog or web sites of numismatic auctioneers Harlan J Berk, Classical Numismatic Group (twice), Heritage, Stack's Bowers, and the coin grading company Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.

These images were taken over the span of eighteen years. The version with the red background was scanned from a printed auction catalog. All of the other images are taken directly from auction sites or the slab company's slab verification image.

This coin did not change color in the last 18 years. Something about the lighting situation and the camera's color profile was different enough that each of these pictures is different.

Damn Ed, I never realized so much variation of photography in one coin, I was just trying to get the best picture without manipulation. Thank you for pointing it out, I now know I am not the only one with a problem. 

21 minutes ago, CPK said:

I know what you mean. I have only one ancient gold coin and it is tough to get the right balance. Either it's too pale, or too neon, or too orangey. Since I've got only one, I can't offer much helpful advice except that in my case a lower light angle helped highlight the coin's design without reflecting too much light. I'm still not 100% satisfied, it might be a little dark, but it's probably about the best I'll be able to do:

Thank you CPK, my added headache is these coins are concaved. since my specialty is after the coin reform. the dull gold is easier but anything still shiny is a pain. I am trying to keep to my rules but I am finding it more difficult. 

I am going to take your suggestion on light but I will try more indirect light. Right now I have a light ring I use for most of the coppers and the results are very good. 

My photograph table is not set up to be portable but I do live in Florida, perhaps I can move it outside for a experiment. 

Here is another problem coin, again too much shine.  This shot did not come out badly but at the same time it barely shows the luster. Silvered trachea are rarely like this one. 

I have had success with my photography of copper coins, most silver and even electrum coinage but gold coins I rarely do well with. 

I have issues with the glare, I am trying not to change the photos for the sake of trying to capture the true image of each coin. I am going to try to rephotograph my entire collection but I cringe when I am trying to work with the gold coins. 

Here is a beautiful coin but I just cant get the shot. In this case I darkened it. 

here is an electrum coin, It came out much better. 

If anyone has basic tips , I would very much appreciate it. 

Thank You in advance. 

Simon

Another delightful coin. 

To answer your question @catadc

Short circulation of some issues ( E.g. Alexius DOC 41) or limited need that would be the post Latin Conquest 1204 world. Look at the small module trachea, they were basically the same weight. The post 1204 issues were circulating in turkey, not Greece. They did not circulate there before; it was almost a reminder to the Constantinople refugees they were still Eastern Roman. 

John III tetarteron

As for the In the 12th century the longer the rule of the emperor the more coins he produced, in the century taxes were paid in gold and the change the government provided was in trachea and tetartera. These coins were not recalled, they continued to circulate. Exceptions to this would be some of the early trachea of Alexius I. We know the population was use to dealing with older currency for two reasons, hoard finds, old coins found with new. The other reason were many of these types were imitated in the 13th and perhaps 14th century. 

Imitation tetarteron of Alexius SBCV- 1931 ( Note inverted letters on OBV.)

The Constantinople issues contained silver and were not circulated outside the city. No imitations of these coins exist. They are very rarely found in sites outside the city. The coins were originally found in such small quantities they were thought to be ceremonial. Since the 1960's finds they have proven to be a circulating currency, in one of the rare moments of correspondence between a teacher and a student they discussed the buying power of two coins both called tetarterons but very different buying powers.

Alexius SBCV-1923 City tetarteron silvering intact.

The issues from Thessalonica were issued in large quantities for Greece, these are far more common and again depending on the length of the Emperors rule and the current economic need. 

Manual SBCV-1980 Half tetarteron

Other issues were once thought to be rare are no longer considered rare because the quantities that are selling from areas that had no academic excavations, most notable Cyprus. 

That is why some issues are more commonly found than others, not necessarily imitations but quantity created but also because where they were minted and the economic need for the denomination during that emperor's rule and the duration of that rule. 

The other sign of rarity is more of an illusion, I remember I searched for years for an example of specific types, it was not really a rarity issue it was just none were on the market at the time. Coins listed in Sear as extremely rare they can be easily found. 

9 hours ago, Glebe said:

As I understand it the post 1204 section of Sear 2nd edition was largely the work of Simon Bendall and Michael O'Hara, advised by Hendy.

@Glebe Ironically, I had acquired this coin at a German auction, a few years later I purchased "a in works auction catalog" from the Simon Bendall collection of books. The catalog had been compiled and photographed by Michael O'Hara.  My exact coin was in the catalog as unknown, possibly Nicaean. I am uncertain what year the catalog was being created or why Simon Bendall had the catalog, (He also had photos of the Richard of Lionheart coin listed as Alexius II). I have no idea if this auction ever took place and if Michael was the owner of these coins. ( I would believe so.)

Its interesting to see the attributing evolution. In Hendy's 1969 Coinage and Money, the coin is not included. In 1999 DOC IV it is. The argument that is Latin is based on another trachy with the same imagery. In fact, it has the strongest argument as to being Latin out of the three coins. The first two are based on the Thessalonica mint style and coin imagery. 

As for the Bates book I was lucky enough to find a copy a few years ago, honestly, I never reference it but it is an interesting piece of coin memorabilia. The details of some of the coin designs are hand drawn next to the typed text. Crude but effective. I had a copy of his more famous Sardis book, but I rarely used it. 

I agree a lot needs to be revised @theotokevoithi, anything after the 12th century, the coinage gets murky. The Latin tetartera I started with really are proof of this, most catalogs just said Latin issue, it was not until I read Bakers book that I realized there is a dissenting view regarding these coins and when I followed the evidence there really is none that they are of Latin issue or any other solution.

Coin catalogs follow the works of academics, collectors follow the catalogs. So these coins in my opinion will be referred to as Latin for as long as people collect them.

  David Sear wrote a catalog that allowed every collector to communicate. It is affordable, it been reprinted several times but not updated. Until someone tries to make another major catalog it will remain that way. The last catalog written was by Sommer, it's in German but he clearly states it does not include all Byzantine coins, in fact it does not even come close to the number of types that David Sear included.  The Dumbarton Oakes series is now free online but not catching on. They were expensive when they came out and normally purchased only by institutions. (When I bought DOC IV from Dumbarton Oakes, in 2002, they said they had not sold any to private individuals yet, I was the first.)  CLBC is another catalog written primarily on 12th and 13th century but it is rushed They included new information but excluded a lot of proven information as well.

Years ago a man named George E. Bates took a huge undertaking and wrote a catalog on Byzantine coins " A Byzantine Coin Collection.", it was privately printed in 1981 , in a very small edition size, it must have taken years to compile, and it is clearly a typed document. (It did not include the Latin tetartera.)

The following was written in the intro. (I love the brave soul part.)

1 minute ago, JeandAcre said:

With apologies, @Simon, I'm still not over the provenance.  'By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen /Medallists.'  ...Yikes.  I'm curious about how old the ticket is.

Sometime After Elizabeth became queen and before the end of shillings because of the price. The company moved in 2000, Elizabeth became queen 1952 until they stopped using shillings, Internet says 1990 but when I went to school in UK in 1970's we did not use shillings. So I am uncertain there. 

5 minutes ago, ela126 said:

@Simon nice example, i jsut got one of these in myself of similiar quality. Yours is massive on comparison though at 9.21. Just weighed mine, 4.73g.. The portraits all seem similiar but your flan and die must have been a bit larger

Thank you but your right, the last seller wrote that , I weighed it 3.8gm . I will correct that! 

Constans II and Sons Follis  SBCV- 1110 9.21gm ( correction 3.8gm) and a Sicily Mint.

Interesting coin and gem but out of my field but I bought it because it was nicely struck.  It included a circular tag from? but a Spink & Son Ltd. cut out address was included ; I assume it originally came from them. The address 5-7 King St, St James London so they moved in 2000, so the ticket is 20th century. Also the original price looks like 10 pounds 10 shillings?

A similar Nicia image, note the cross on the reverse, a full tetarteron though. This is the only connection I have seen so far.

1 hour ago, theotokevoithi said:

Everyone, like J.Baker, needs for his book some solid assumptions in order to create a book structure. With so many numismatic uncertainties he had to make decisions and explain things.  His priority was the official minting and simple assumptions are better than complex assumptions

I totally agree. I need Pagona Papadopoulou to finish her paper on the century. I am certain she will add new information to the knowledge base.