Two tough Johns with one stone

[Severus Alexander]

I thought I'd inaugurate the Byzantine category with my favourite new Byzantine coin:

I picked it up in a Leu auction earlier this year, and it knocks two fairly difficult emperors off my list: John V Palaeologos and John VI Kantakouzenos.  When John V inherited the throne in 1341 (from his father, Andronikos III) he was only 9 years old and so needed a regent.  John K, a buddy of Andronikos III, was only too happy to oblige.  Unfortunately John V's mother, Anna, started worrying about John K's true ambitions and some other powerful people were jealous of his position, so he was tossed out.  John K's troops proclaimed him emperor, civil war ensued, and John K emerged victorious.  He was crowned co-emperor with John V, agreeing to relinquish seniority to John V when the kid came of age.  That's when this coin was issued, between 1347 and 1353 (it's a tornese, a small silver/billon denomination).  John V eventually forced John VI out and he retired to a monastery, writing a four volume history that is still extant.  He died around age 90 making him the longest lived Roman emperor.

This coin is super rare and I was ecstatic to land it!

[Furryfrog02]

Very nice! Those later Byzantines are really tough to find.  When I got into Byzantines I thought it would be cool to do an Emperor set...lol....what a sweet summer child I was. 

[Alegandron]

LIKE! @Severus Alexander!  (I ran out of likes!) 🙂

[Theodosius]

That is a great coin and interesting history. 

Pretty cool that his four-volume history survived.

Is your coin overstruck?

I too once thought of collecting all the emperors and empresses.  Ha ha.

John

[Severus Alexander]

Yay, unlimited likes/reacts now!  Thanks, @Restitutor!

1 hour ago, Theodosius said:

Is your coin overstruck?

No, I don't think so - just weakly struck.  Amazingly enough this is one of the better ones out there!  Those Byzantines and their sketchy production values... 🙄

 

2 hours ago, Furryfrog02 said:

When I got into Byzantines I thought it would be cool to do an Emperor set...lol....what a sweet summer child I was.

1 hour ago, Theodosius said:

I too once thought of collecting all the emperors and empresses.  Ha ha.

Ye faint of heart! Here's who I'm still missing:

Essential - Livia, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Balbinus, Pupienus, Pulcheria, Michael IV (7)

Non-essential (according to me) but reasonably obtainable - Nero Claudius Drusus, Agrippina Sr., Nero & Drusus Caesars, Britannicus, Octavia, Poppaea, Julia Titi, Paulina, Laelianus, Magnia Urbica, Constantine III, Majorian, Artavasdus, Theophylactus, Romanus II, Isaac I Comnenus, Nicephorus Basilacius, Michael II Angelos of Epiros (18)

Have: 229 others

Can I do it before the cancer finally gits me?  Well, probably not the non-essentials but I think I can do it with the 7 essentials!

[JeandAcre]

What a terrifically cool, funky, for me very arcane late Byzantine, @Severus Alexander.  Now I'm getting why contemporary Bulgarian coins are as crude as they are.  Blame it on the prototypes, and you're done!  ...Your collecting ambitions were staggering to begin with; the level to which you've attained them verges on the surreal.

...I'm the artist formerly known as +VGO+DVX+ ...or whatever variant of that.  Figured the handle for this forum should be just a tad less willfully arcane --not to mention plain silly.  Equally profuse and profound thanks are due to Donna for inviting me.  ...I'm already liking the rules, the general vibe, and even the more liberal format options very much.  Lots of thanks, @Restitutor, for starting this.

Edited May 25, 2022 by JeandAcre

[Severus Alexander]

2 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

What a terrifically cool, funky, for me very arcane late Byzantine, @Severus Alexander.  Now I'm getting why contemporary Bulgarian coins are as crude as they are.  Blame it on the prototypes, and you're done!  ...Your collecting ambitions were staggering to begin with; the level to which you've attained them verges on the surreal.

...I'm the artist formerly known as +VGO+DVX+ ...or whatever variant of that.  Figured the handle for this forum should be just a tad less willfully arcane --not to mention plain silly.  Equally profuse and profound thanks are due to Donna for inviting me.  ...I'm already liking the rules, the general vibe, and even the more liberal format options very much.  Lots of thanks, @Restitutor, for starting this.

Welcome, +VGO/Jean!!  There's even a Medieval category here. 😁 I'm so happy the new forum has taken off.  Looks like it will be a great success.

[Alegandron]

11 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

What a terrifically cool, funky, for me very arcane late Byzantine, @Severus Alexander.  Now I'm getting why contemporary Bulgarian coins are as crude as they are.  Blame it on the prototypes, and you're done!  ...Your collecting ambitions were staggering to begin with; the level to which you've attained them verges on the surreal.

...I'm the artist formerly known as +VGO+DVX+ ...or whatever variant of that.  Figured the handle for this forum should be just a tad less willfully arcane --not to mention plain silly.  Equally profuse and profound thanks are due to Donna for inviting me.  ...I'm already liking the rules, the general vibe, and even the more liberal format options very much.  Lots of thanks, @Restitutor, for starting this.

Greetings and Salutations, my Friend~  LOL, your Avatar name will be MUCH easier to cite that you +VGO (e al) !  😄

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

On 5/23/2022 at 6:40 PM, Severus Alexander said:

I thought I'd inaugurate the Byzantine category with my favourite new Byzantine coin:

I picked it up in a Leu auction earlier this year, and it knocks two fairly difficult emperors off my list: John V Palaeologos and John VI Kantakouzenos.  When John V inherited the throne in 1341 (from his father, Andronikos III) he was only 9 years old and so needed a regent.  John K, a buddy of Andronikos III, was only too happy to oblige.  Unfortunately John V's mother, Anna, started worrying about John K's true ambitions and some other powerful people were jealous of his position, so he was tossed out.  John K's troops proclaimed him emperor, civil war ensued, and John K emerged victorious.  He was crowned co-emperor with John V, agreeing to relinquish seniority to John V when the kid came of age.  That's when this coin was issued, between 1347 and 1353 (it's a tornese, a small silver/billon denomination).  John V eventually forced John VI out and he retired to a monastery, writing a four volume history that is still extant.  He died around age 90 making him the longest lived Roman emperor.

This coin is super rare and I was ecstatic to land it!

Very lucky!!! I was the underbidder to the underbidder on this 😉 

as a consolation, I was able to snag this. An otherwise unknown tornese type of Andronikos II. 

I actually somehow managed to acquire two examples 😂. My paper on them will be published in Koinon V or IV 😃  

[JeandAcre]

Truly Awesome to see you here, @TheTrachyEnjoyer!  This forum is getting better all the time.

[Severus Alexander]

Thanks all, will follow up tomorrow hopefully!  I’m totally exhausted after a trip to the ER today. 😖

[JeandAcre]

@Severus Alexander, hope all is well, regardless of who it was about. Not a fun way to spend an evening.

Edited May 26, 2022 by JeandAcre

[Severus Alexander]

On 5/25/2022 at 8:12 AM, TheTrachyEnjoyer said:

Very lucky!!! I was the underbidder to the underbidder on this 😉 

Well, I'm glad that I didn't take it directly out of your hands, at least!  And your consolation prize is pretty damn awesome I must say.  That you have two is mind boggling!  Looking forward to the article.

Still dealing with the side effects of my immunotherapy that led to the ER visit, but I'm feeling much better today. 🙂

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

9 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

Well, I'm glad that I didn't take it directly out of your hands, at least!  And your consolation prize is pretty damn awesome I must say.  That you have two is mind boggling!  Looking forward to the article.

Still dealing with the side effects of my immunotherapy that led to the ER visit, but I'm feeling much better today. 🙂

Awesome to hear that you are feeling better!!