Manuel I Comnenus Tetarteron...

[ewomack]

Though nowhere near perfect, the proportion of the price and the quality of the portraits on this one seemed worth a grab. Sadly, a chunk of the coin vanished somewhere in its history, completely eliminating the word ΔЄCΠΟΤ on the reverse upper right. Comnenus's left arm also suffered, but a decent part of the globus cruciger remains. Despite everything, all of the remaining letters look pretty legible and the portraits retain a lot of their character. I haven't ventured this deep into late Byzantium territory yet, so this now stands as my latest Byzantine. I quite like this type. Someday I may upgrade and try to get a more complete specimen, but this one will sate me for now.


Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1183), Æ Tetarteron; Thessalonica; Obv: ⨀/Γ/Є to left and P-over-w/Γ/O/S to right, half-length bust of St. George facing, holding spear and shield ; Rev:  MANɣHΛ ΔЄCΠΟΤ, bust of Manuel facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger; 20 mm,3.24g; DOC 18; Sear 1975

 

Please post your own examples of Manuel Tetarterons or similar coins!

Edited May 27 by ewomack

[Simon]

12 hours ago, ewomack said:

Someday I may upgrade and try to get a more complete specimen, but this one will sate me for now.

There is nothing wrong with your example, this coin is one of the most abundant to the tetartera family, Manuel had the longest rule so many of these coins were created. Some noted have been as heavy as 7gm. My heaviest is 6gm. 

This coin remains in my collection, was a gift from a dealer before anybody collected these.  Its obverse is poorly struck but the reverse is beautiful. I fliped the photo. Rev to OBV. 

Other examples from my collection, this is the heavy one at 6gm.

This one harshly cleaned but almost complete.

 So yours is a very nice example with complete face features. I would not be so quick to replace it. 

[ewomack]

On 5/27/2023 at 10:26 AM, Simon said:

 So yours is a very nice example with complete face features. I would not be so quick to replace it. 

Sorry, I should have been more specific. When I said "upgrade" I actually meant buying another example, not getting rid of this one. Having two, even two that are incomplete in different ways, would work fine for me. I don't think I would part ways with this one.

I realized that I've actually already done this. I have two Theophilus folles of the same type - I like them both, so I plan to keep them both.

Theophilus (AD 829-842) Æ Follis; Constantinople mint; AD 830-842; Obv: ΘEOFIL bASIL; Half-length figure standing facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger; Rev: ΘEO / FILE AVG / OVSTE SV / hICAS in four lines; 27.66mm; 7.46 grams; Sear 1667

Theophilus (AD 829-842) Æ Follis; Constantinople mint; AD 830-842; Obv: ΘEOFIL bASIL; Half-length figure standing facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger; Rev: ΘEO / FILE AVG / OVSTE SV / hICAS in four lines; 28mm; 8.26 grams; Sear 1667

[JeandAcre]

2 hours ago, ewomack said:

Sorry, I should have been more specific. When I said "upgrade" I actually meant buying another example, not getting rid of this one. Having two, even two that are incomplete in different ways, would work fine for me. I don't think I would part ways with this one.

I realized that I've actually already done this. I have two Theophilus folles of the same type - I like them both, so I plan to keep them both.

Theophilus (AD 829-842) Æ Follis; Constantinople mint; AD 830-842; Obv: ΘEOFIL bASIL; Half-length figure standing facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger; Rev: ΘEO / FILE AVG / OVSTE SV / hICAS in four lines; 27.66mm; 7.46 grams; Sear 1667

Theophilus (AD 829-842) Æ Follis; Constantinople mint; AD 830-842; Obv: ΘEOFIL bASIL; Half-length figure standing facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger; Rev: ΘEO / FILE AVG / OVSTE SV / hICAS in four lines; 28mm; 8.26 grams; Sear 1667

In later years, I've wound up exactly on your page about this.  ...We're talking about hand-struck coins, right? every one is effectively unique.  The different strikes can be like pets with different personalities.