Simon

No, it is too early for me, I am really focused on 12th century. I have at home a small group of Heraclian issues unattributed.

And a pretty one.

The ugly version of yours @Nerosmyfavorite68

I use MS word. Paste pic into doc, format picture, remove background then fill with color of choice. Easy.

The empire had many pretend Emperors, some took it to the next step and created coins. My collection only contains one such Usurper, the only one who made tetartera in the 12th century. Isaac Usurper Of Cyprus, interesting and evil. Nephew of Manuel captured, rescued, and then betrays the empire by taking control of the territory of Cyprus. A lucrative spot for taxes and treachery, picks a fight with Richard the Lionheart by stripping one of his stricken ships. Richard in force quickly defeats Isaac of Comnenus. I gave his very brief history, As for his coinage, I only have the tetartera, he creates coins in Electrum, and Billion. The tetartera was based off the city tetartera and it also contained a small amount of silver. I have always believed he was a coin collector because in his short reign he created over 17 types of coinage, For a complete list look at this sample Chapter of CLBC. http://orthodoxcoins.com/books/catalogue-of-late-byzantine-coins-vol1/intro-chap6.pdf Now D.M Metcalf proposed a theory that coin types were created in Constantinople exclusively for Cyprus or Cyprus minted its own exclusive types, that was in regard to coins of Alexius and perhaps John II. I believe the mint in Cyprus existed and was in use before Isaac Comnenus Illegal rule occurred. Michael Hendy had mentioned copper mines were known in Cyprus, he made that a point in his argument that these coins were minted. Interesting enough several of these coins were confused with the legitimate Emperor Isaac II Angelus who rules after Andronicus I. In the last 50 years we figured out who’s was whose. I have several of the issues he created, all of his coins are rare. The more common, are also some of the most unique designs. Here are three types of a similar coin, each has subtle differences. Main issue SBCV-1998 Variation mentioned CLBC, the legend on the obverse is circular. And this one, more than likely a mistake but it does get its own Sear number SBCV-1999, I have only seen one other example on the web. The virgin is now on the left instead of the right. Now for other designs. SBCV- 1994, this was purchased at CNG, the beginning of expensive coins for me. That price is in the rear-view mirror now. This one shows up at labarum showing it not as rare as Sear and CLBC mark it at. Interesting type, with the virgin standing right in in the Orans position. Mine is worn but a clear example. This one again using the Virgin, this example is better than most. SBCV-1993 I do not have any of his other denominations, if you do please feel free to share. In the meantime, Here is one of my favorite examples that I purchased years ago as uncleaned. The reverse was a Fine but the Obverse I was very uncertain. Turned out it was a treasure and a great example of the art of Cyprus during the time. ( This was purchased many years ago and cheaply.) The legend was gone but the image is still beautiful. Hard to believe what was under the crust. So if you have the coinage of ANY usurper of any time period (Roman, Eastern Roman, Greek, ETC), feel free to post, I know history has many Wana bees but I am curious how many took it as far as creating coinage. Hope you enjoyed checking out Isaac Comnenus Usurper of Cyprus and perhaps an evil coin collector.

One of my favorites from Latin rule SBCV-2036 The large module version. Is one of my best coins from 2021. Unusually nice.

Thank You @Severus Alexander, I like yours as well, the bug eyes are interesting part of the art.

Yes, that is the auction house weight, but I reweighed this morning, my scale is not as accurate, but it flickers from 4.9 down to 4.8. A quick look in DOC it seems to be heavy. Only one specimen they had weighed in at 4.75.gm The detail of the coin is very good , better than my other three examples, Christ face is blundered but other details seem from a nice die. Its size at the widest is 30.1mm. They put it as a SBCV-2010 but the legend around Christ makes it SBCV-2009. Any other details that seem off, please speak freely @TheTrachyEnjoyer . Like you, I am purest, I want my collection to remain authentic.

Still no Hyperpyron for Alexius III but my 4th example of electrum aspron trachy. It is a nice one from Morton and Eden and from the Ex-Ambassador collection. It is very crisp but the face of Christ is blundered. 4.93gm They called it SBCV-2010 but it is SBCV- 2009. I did this photo without flash.

22.55mm and 5.9gm I think it is a very nice SBCV-842 but I am not certain because of mint mark? The wreath is very nice, I bought this for my exceptional collection, but it was not attributed. Can someone who is better with the time period let me know if I got it right? Thank You,

To keep it going, one of my best of Byzantine coins. Not my focus but when I see something really nice, I put it in the collection. This is such an example. Constans II and 3 sons. 9.21gm Sicily mint. An attractive coin.

I took this from a Xmas post I did this year. It was regarding a necklace my wife had commissioned to have made for me. me, I put it in the general section, I should have put it here. "I work and sell art for a living, and it has made me very attracted to the late style of Byzantine Art, In the last few years I became attracted to the philosophy of Spiritualism. Byzantine coinage with its many abstract portraits are created under this philosophy, its Apex of the artform was during the Palaiologan period (1259-1453)" " The essence of Spiritualism is that all physical things hinder the Cosmic connection." Another way to look at it is all beauty is from within. so all beauty is the ultimate simplicity, the Eastern Romans perfected the art, Abstraction is beauty and a channel to the soul. The original teachings of Spiritualism are not Christian, the earliest writings date to Plotinus around 250 AD. The basic philosophies of his teachings have been added to many faiths, Judaism, Christianity, Gnostic and Islam. For more on Spiritualism on coinage I recommend these works, the second from Christopher T Connell, he diagramed the ultimate portrait of Christ in a Spiritualist nature. He broke the portraits of Christ to 3 circles, 2 semicircles and 30 lines. (He assisted me when I first started collecting Byzantine coinage, I think of him fondly now.) " Vol 03 No. 11 November 1989 - The Celator - VCoins Community Vol 05 No. 12 December 1991 - The Celator - VCoins Community And here is a different coin, same denomination but of John VIII. It was said this was the peak of the movement in art. Simple and beautiful.

Old traditions always seem to circle back. Granted this in from the 12th century and Islamic but this large Nike was being used. ISLAMIC. Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Kayfa & Amid). Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan (AH 543-570 / AD 1148-1174). Ae Dirham. Weight: 10.81 g. Diameter: 32 mm.

Beautiful and rare, a big congratulations to you @TheTrachyEnjoyer

The verdict is still out on this one, through the years it has been attributed to Alexius II (No known coins of the boy Emperor, and unlikely because the title REX) Manuel and his meeting with Baldwin the III, king of Jerusalem in Antioch and Simon Bendall's theory of it being from Richard. Someone turned me on to an excellent story behind these coins being made for Richard's wedding. Any way we look at it is rare and very cool. Here is the DOC listing for the coin. Uncertain Ruler, Copper, Tetarteron Noummion, Cyprus — Dumbarton Oaks (doaks.org) Great coin @VD76, I would love to own one.

I know I am a day early but it feels like Tuesday, this coin has its faults but has its beauty as well. I believe it to be Thedore I Comnenus-Lascaris I Christ on a throne, my reason for showing this large module trachy is the interesting orange rust patina.

No idea what this little piece of metal is or better yet who it is. I bought it cheaply (under $10.00) during a Martini Auction in covid times. Interesting Byzantine art though. It is tiny, under 20mm. Broken off something. It is like a lightbulb with a face.

Beautiful Presentation. Great coins.

Some great pieces, It was a good year for coins ( My picks are #1 and #9) and as for the new Year I hope everything health wise improves greatly. Happy New Year.

Congratulations on a good year.! My favorite is the Domitilla Sestertius. Have a Happy New Year.

This example is the only one I have found that is similar. My photo is of a plate in Julian Bakers " Coinage and Money in Medieval Greece 1200-1430". The text attributes as the larger version I believe that to be a typo. It is type VI. The example is in Athens, the author did not give weight, but he said they were photographed to size, the example he has to the left of it (cropped out here) shows the same scale as in my original posting. One example that is findable on the web is on Labarum. This appears to be the example That Forum Ancient coins sold. Different dies and appear to be mismatched. 15mm and 11mm is my estimate. The example is 1.24gm and 17.5mm at the widest point. The inscription for Isaac is heavily abbreviated and the reverse AO? (This is not my coin.) This example seems to match the one used in DOC IV description. This example Is not a half tetarteron, not by size anyway. It has always left me a bit baffled. Its weight is only 2.2gm but it is full sized, the dies here too appear to be mis matched. The full size is over 20mm but with a full die sized at 18mm and the other less at 15mm. The coin is very thin but is nicely struck considering its very low weight. Last but not least is a heavy example 4.5gm but with 15mm dies. I have others of the large sized and midsized dies, but the weights vary, not clearly showing any consistency of weight. The examples in my collection are not a good picture of the denomination as a whole, I picked them for visual purposes, I have no idea on where they were actually found and how they compared with coins from the same area. I think my example of the half tetarteron is extremely official looking for the obverse, I have no doubt it was an official issue. Here once again a comparison picture of the three sized dies. If you have thoughts and observations on the series or the denomination in general, please feel free to post.

Some great additions for your year. Your collection always amazes me.

It was Not part of the original goal BUT I have 5 types of Isaac Comnenus usurper of Cyprus tetartera. I also changed my focus to get all coinage of the 12th century emperors a few years ago, the copper ones were the most difficult. The other ones just required money and patience; I will complete the collection in the next few years. Alexius I is the biggest hurdle. here is my rarest Isaac Comnenus Usurper tetarteron. SBCV-1999

I should start this thread with " Call me Ishmael. Unattractive I know but easily still attributable. It is a coin I have sought after, to the point, I questioned if it existed as an official issue. The coin is described Sear Byzantine coins and their Values and in CLBC, also Doc, each gave it a different description, but one thing was in common, the coin was very small. In CLBC they listed the die diameter at 11mm. The only main difference in SBCV and CLBC is description of the Archangels inscription. In CLBC it is AP on R and M on left. In Sears catalog he says it is identical the full tetarteron O/X/AP on l. and X/MI on r. My example follows Sears description for legend 1.7gm 15.5mm SBCV-2006 The coin was produced under the rule of Isaac II, 1185-1195 CE, his family lead to the destruction of the empire at the hands of the crusaders. He was a follower of the Cult of the Archangel Michael, the tetartera from Thessalonica was of two types, a full tetarteron and a coin called its half. His full tetarteron was sized at around 20mm (die size 18mm) but the half listed in Sear and CLBC only at 15mm or less down to 11mm. the size in Morrison is 11mm and Grierson does not include the coin in his catalog nor does Sommer. The weight listed in CLBC says from 1.17 to 1.8 gm. (The ONLY other example that appears on the web is in Forums Ancient Coins prior sales, it is of a cruder imagery than mine and the die sizes do not appear to be uniform.) Bellow I include the two listed denominations for a visual comparison. As my good friend @catadc will point out, a 15mm die size does exists as well but my examples by weight, don’t make it apparent of being a different denomination. That riddle remains. In any case I have finally found the smallest tetarteron and have conclusively completed the collection I started out to complete, every listed tetarteron for the emperors of the 12th century Eastern Roman Empire.

True, but was it feasible for a mass-produced coin to be made precisely? I am certain gold was very controlled but AE, I doubt. The sheer volume of tetartera in Greece was quantities of coins that had not been seen for a coinage since Constantine the great era. In previous conversations with other collectors' coins not made in the capital took liberties in design, not changes but cruder representations. In other words, the City tetartera stayed very sharp and consistent in design and weight and must have been closely supervised in its making. The Thessalonica issues ( If they are Soley minted there) do not have that degree of precision. Even though I believe in the two mints and perhaps a third in Cyprus there may have been a need for traveling military mints, we don't know but if so how limited would they have been in the tools needed. @catadc I do believe in the Mutiple denomination of tetartera, 3 sizes from the time of Manuel and coming to an end at Isaac II but I do not think the evidence is as clear for Alexius and his son John II, your example does demonstrate that it existed but the coins I have collected through the decades are not showing the different sizes like with Manuel and Andronicus. I will eventually get the Manuel collection pictured. , It will put together a visual on how easy it is to see the three sizes.