Father's Byzantine / Ancient Coin Collection

[Simon]

It is a very nice example, well struck on both sides, as you may not know this coin required two strikes to make. As Seth said it was the first billion trachea issued in his reign, the death of his father John II was rather sudden, hunting accident with a poison arrow. 

The portrait is one of the few times you see the ruler without a beard and Christ is also shown as beardless. Your example is attractive and a nice addition to any collection. I paid about 10 times the price you father did for my example. Your example also has an almost a full legend, mine does not. 

The silver content on these billion issues was as high as 8% but during Manuels reign it began to decline due to debasement. My specialty is the 12th century. This coinage was created after Manuels grandfathers coin reform in 1092, the Alexius coin reform. 

Enjoy the coin. 

 

[Bonshaw]

15 hours ago, Simon said:

It is a very nice example, well struck on both sides, as you may not know this coin required two strikes to make. As Seth said it was the first billion trachea issued in his reign, the death of his father John II was rather sudden, hunting accident with a poison arrow. 

The portrait is one of the few times you see the ruler without a beard and Christ is also shown as beardless. Your example is attractive and a nice addition to any collection. I paid about 10 times the price you father did for my example. Your example also has an almost a full legend, mine does not. 

The silver content on these billion issues was as high as 8% but during Manuels reign it began to decline due to debasement. My specialty is the 12th century. This coinage was created after Manuels grandfathers coin reform in 1092, the Alexius coin reform. 

Enjoy the coin. 

 

Thank you - this is a lot of interesting background, and I like how the faces are clear on your coin! I love the poisoned arrow detail, and I'm looking forward to reading more about Manuel's reign this week. 

[Jims,Coins]

https://auditoriumbooks.com/products/david-r-sear-byzantine-coins-and-their-values?variant=44467824394561&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhNtQWW5LQuJEQ-soC8tbTeNpRT2YCcr6T4phwyWslc_mqpm9Jd1Yf4aAmG9EALw_wcB

This book is a must for Byzantine collectors S1962 is the coin number

https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sb/i.html

Here is an online database for Byzantine coinshttps://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj-zIiXxPyEAxVvz8IEHYBGBFMYABANGgJwdg&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhM4Q4exkRw3D8z7zlIjKsKDhk5LlR0-Lf60RB63O_Bchb7qdsF_tV4aAmi5EALw_wcB&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2zGzrwEIFEbTzSecA1f3gPVjcV19OylpeQ8Qgtj4LNwbPD7gCQGydcT1KjHWFSNsgrUjDB0Cqtc6jOKeK0rDX1UixZYLIgaqd-IOI3kj7LMMfyzQu&sig=AOD64_2mM6X51NydeEQ_FzOfSAOO-FxlFg&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&ved=2ahUKEwihmv-WxPyEAxV3BUQIHdwOD_UQ9aACKAB6BAgGECY&adurl=https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj-zIiXxPyEAxVvz8IEHYBGBFMYABANGgJwdg&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhM4Q4exkRw3D8z7zlIjKsKDhk5LlR0-Lf60RB63O_Bchb7qdsF_tV4aAmi5EALw_wcB&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2zGzrwEIFEbTzSecA1f3gPVjcV19OylpeQ8Qgtj4LNwbPD7gCQGydcT1KjHWFSNsgrUjDB0Cqtc6jOKeK0rDX1UixZYLIgaqd-IOI3kj7LMMfyzQu&sig=AOD64_2mM6X51NydeEQ_FzOfSAOO-FxlFg&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&ved=2ahUKEwihmv-WxPyEAxV3BUQIHdwOD_UQ9aACKAB6BAgGECY&adurl=https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj-zIiXxPyEAxVvz8IEHYBGBFMYABANGgJwdg&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhM4Q4exkRw3D8z7zlIjKsKDhk5LlR0-Lf60RB63O_Bchb7qdsF_tV4aAmi5EALw_wcB&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2zGzrwEIFEbTzSecA1f3gPVjcV19OylpeQ8Qgtj4LNwbPD7gCQGydcT1KjHWFSNsgrUjDB0Cqtc6jOKeK0rDX1UixZYLIgaqd-IOI3kj7LMMfyzQu&sig=AOD64_2mM6X51NydeEQ_FzOfSAOO-FxlFg&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&ved=2ahUKEwihmv-WxPyEAxV3BUQIHdwOD_UQ9aACKAB6BAgGECY&adurl=https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj-zIiXxPyEAxVvz8IEHYBGBFMYABANGgJwdg&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhM4Q4exkRw3D8z7zlIjKsKDhk5LlR0-Lf60RB63O_Bchb7qdsF_tV4aAmi5EALw_wcB&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2zGzrwEIFEbTzSecA1f3gPVjcV19OylpeQ8Qgtj4LNwbPD7gCQGydcT1KjHWFSNsgrUjDB0Cqtc6jOKeK0rDX1UixZYLIgaqd-IOI3kj7LMMfyzQu&sig=AOD64_2mM6X51NydeEQ_FzOfSAOO-FxlFg&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&ved=2ahUKEwihmv-WxPyEAxV3BUQIHdwOD_UQ9aACKAB6BAgGECY&adurl=

Edited March 18 by Jims,Coins

[Bonshaw]

1 hour ago, Jims,Coins said:

https://auditoriumbooks.com/products/david-r-sear-byzantine-coins-and-their-values?variant=44467824394561&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhNtQWW5LQuJEQ-soC8tbTeNpRT2YCcr6T4phwyWslc_mqpm9Jd1Yf4aAmG9EALw_wcB

This book is a must for Byzantine collectors S1962 is the coin number

https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sb/i.html

 

Fantastic, that is what S1962 stands for on the coin envelope. I just searched through my father's library and found the 1974 first edition of Sear. And it has S1962 as promised.

His library has about 1,100 volumes of history but not that many on numismatics. I also found these possibly  relevant books, though, in addition to Sear 1974:

Sydenham, "Historical References to Coins of the Roman Empire"

Oikonomides, "Byzantine Lead Seals"

Ratto, "Monnaies Byzantines"

Seaby, "Greek Coins and their Values"

William Craig, "Coins of the World".

and a bunch of catalogs.

I myself purchased Mitchiner, "Ancient and Classical World" some time ago.

Wildwinds looks great!

Thanks for the pointers.

 

Edited March 18 by Bonshaw

[ela126]

@Bonshaw Wow, your father had a significant library in general.

For the Byzantine pieces, Ratto was a predecessor to DOC i'd say, which then developed into Sear. Ratto has nice plates, with connecting reference numbers to a description in French. I don't think anyone uses the reference numbers though.

I'm not sure if DOC's online link was shared. i use it quite a lot.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

Also, Grierson - Byzantine Coinage.

Byzantine Coinage : Grierson, Philip : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[theotokevoithi]

You are a lucky man. Your father gave you a history library and a coin collection. Apart from everything else, you can remember him and spend time with this treasure. Everyone of us when time passes understands the meaning of collecting and keeping history archive : It is to be seen and examined by  people we love. This is called  mnimosino (memorial) by the byzantines.

[theotokevoithi]

My contribution on the death of Manuel s father John ii while hunting wild pigs using poisoned arrows in Taurus mountains in 1143. He was ready to besiege Antioch. Manuel was appointed emperor a little before his father died.

A French manuscript of 14th century (John Comnenus hunting).

The bottom line is that if you hunt with poisoned arrows, you must be very careful.(it was a hand scratch).

[Bonshaw]

2 hours ago, theotokevoithi said:

You are a lucky man. Your father gave you a history library and a coin collection. Apart from everything else, you can remember him and spend time with this treasure. Everyone of us when time passes understands the meaning of collecting and keeping history archive : It is to be seen and examined by  people we love. This is called  mnimosino (memorial) by the byzantines.

I am appreciating this inheritance more and more, and the wonderful people on this board are greatly enhancing my ability to appreciate it. Thank you all.

Thanks also for pointing me at mnimosino. In addition to the richness of the Greek orthodox tradition, I see its etymology is from Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, and mother of the muses!  I wonder if there is a coin with Mnemosyne?

[Glebe]

Here is the Labarum online catalog arranged by Sear (SB) type:

https://labarum.info/lbr/?sf_refsear=&sf_main_search=&sf_submit=Search&sf_state=&sf_ruler=Michael+II+Angelus+(Epirus)&sf_mint=&sf_denom=

Ross G.

Edited March 20 by Glebe

[theotokevoithi]

As far as i know , i cant find a coin with Mnemosyne.  There was a statue in classic Athens , an image in Tegea - Arcadia and a throne and sanctum in the oracle of Boeotia.

In Athens for Mnemosyne they performed a sober sacrifice, that is, a sacrifice without the libation of wine. (memory and wine are enemies).

Τhere is a mosaic of 2 cent ad in Taracco Spain and an Hellenistic.

Concerning the coinage : For her daughters (Muses) these are legendary :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Pomponius_Musa

Waiting impatiently for the picture of the next coin..........................de Villehardouin (the oracle indicates it is a tornesello).

[Jims,Coins]

When`s the next coin?

[Bonshaw]

9 minutes ago, Jims,Coins said:

When`s the next coin?

Today!

[Bonshaw]

Happy weekend! It is time for the next coin from my father's collection, #3/83.

While organizing my father's library yesterday, I discovered a binder that he had his coins in at some time. In that binder, there is a small notecard associated with each coin on which he wrote a bit about the historical context (I think he wrote these notecards about 40 years ago). I'm excited to include photos of these notecards with the coins starting today.

Today's coin is a Denier from the Principality of Achaia, William of Villehardouin, 1245-1278.

Coin: 3/83

Ruler: William of Villehardouin, 1245-1278.

Type: AR Denier (It is listed as such, but I think this is Billon?)

Location: Principality of Achaia

Weight: 0.897 g

Width: 19 mm

Height: 18 mm

Thickness (flan): 0.5 mm

Purchase date: April 15, 1970

Vendor: Alex G. Malloy, New York

Purchase price: $8.00

Here is the envelope that it came in from Alex Malloy

Here is the receipt from Alex Malloy:

This week, I also found that my father kept a number of Alex Malloy catalogs, and this coin is in one of them. Here is the photo of the cover of the catalog:

And the relevant page with this coin listing. This coin is entry 79, near the bottom

The catalog had a photo of this coin, #79 at the lower left:

Finally, here is the historical context from my father's notecard:

The crumbling of the Byzantine empire is a lot richer and more complex than I understood. I'm very much looking forward to following up learning about this time, and the Principality of Achaia, this week.

Any historical insights would be very welcome, or insights about this coin!   Is it really AR, or is it BI?

Thanks for being part of my discovery process. This group is making it much more exciting and informative.

Edited March 24 by Bonshaw

[seth77]

This is a coinage from the first part of the 1270s probably. The denier tournois is introduced to the Frankokratia in the 1260s, with coinage imported from the Occitan and Provencal areas following the interdiction of the deniers tournois of Alphonse de France and Charles d'Anjou by Louis IX of France. This smaller title and lighter denier tournois was the blueprint for the Greek denier tournois, which was likely started by Guillaume II de Villehardouin around 1267, after the Viterbo treaty, when Guillaume entered the orbit of Charles d'Anjou in his push eastward. The Frankish coinage did in fact reach the Eastern Levant, up to the coast of Israel, Lebanon and Syria and even the Greek variations were used in the late and very late stages of the 'Crusader' principalities in the Holy Land and Syria. In fact the coinage started in 1267 (but with the bulk minting around 1270+) was back to France by the early 1300s to supplant the lack of good billon coinage during the debasement and inflation crisis that gave Philippe IV the moniker of 'roi faux monnayeur'. And not only that, but the coinage was so successful that it ended up being adopted by the Eastern Empire itself in the form of the 'tornesion' (after the reform of 1304 that re-introduced silver in the Byzantine monetary system) and the 'politikon' (the silver local Constantinopolitan denomination by mid 14th century). If we were to follow its other manifestations as 'monnaie noire' based on the tornesii of Giovanni II Orsini of Arta that were copied and used extensively throughout the Balkans, the Danube trade and the Bulgarian and Byzantine Black Sea on one hand and the tornesii of the Maona di Chio minted by the Genoese corporation for the Aegean trade, the career of this coinage goes well to the mid 16th century.

That being said, if you want to actively collect these coins, there are many variations and many mints to be found, especially easy the 3 main Greek mints of Glarentza (CLARENTIA/CLARENCIA like your coin) for the Principality of Achaea, Thebes for the Duchy of Athens (you can read my numismatic synopsis of the denier tournois of the Duchy of Athens here) and Naupaktos/Lepanto for the Angevin Despotate of Epirus, a Latin breakaway realm carved from the Epirus of the Komnenodoukai. To follow all variations, you can check the library your father left you for Malloy's main work (ed.) - Coins of the Crusader States. Additionally I find the following works very helpful:

- Tzamalis - Coins of the Frankish Occupation of Greece 1184-1566.

- Baker - Coinage and Money in Medieval Greece 1200-1430

I for one love this part of European history that combines and mixes the West and the East in a complex and eclectic manner, bringing the feudal system and the expeditionary ethos of the Western barons and the Catholic Church to the centralized forms of power and the dynamic diplomacy and soft power of the Byzantine Empire during the Komnenodoukai of Epirus-Thessalonica and the Palaiologai. Medieval Greece is extremely complex and thanks to the extremely influential monetary move made by Guillaume de Villehardouin, numismatics plays a great role in understanding this story.

Last but not least, the paperwork that your father saved makes this coin very interesting and desirable. You have there Malloy's notes and the publication of the catalog that gives your coin its pedigree. As a student of the Greek Frankokratia and of the denier tournois, I can say that I really appreciate seeing the coin with the documentation together. Hope you'll get some of the enjoyment your dad certainly got when collecting it (otherwise he wouldn't had kept it all together) from this coin.

Here is a contemporary:

Edited March 24 by seth77

[Bonshaw]

7 hours ago, seth77 said:

This is a coinage from the first part of the 1270s probably. The denier tournois is introduced to the Frankokratia in the 1260s, with coinage imported from the Occitan and Provencal areas following the interdiction of the deniers tournois of Alphonse de France and Charles d'Anjou by Louis IX of France. This smaller title and lighter denier tournois was the blueprint for the Greek denier tournois, which was likely started by Guillaume II de Villehardouin around 1267, after the Viterbo treaty, when Guillaume entered the orbit of Charles d'Anjou in his push eastward. The Frankish coinage did in fact reach the Eastern Levant, up to the coast of Israel, Lebanon and Syria and even the Greek variations were used in the late and very late stages of the 'Crusader' principalities in the Holy Land and Syria. In fact the coinage started in 1267 (but with the bulk minting around 1270+) was back to France by the early 1300s to supplant the lack of good billon coinage during the debasement and inflation crisis that gave Philippe IV the moniker of 'roi faux monnayeur'. And not only that, but the coinage was so successful that it ended up being adopted by the Eastern Empire itself in the form of the 'tornesion' (after the reform of 1304 that re-introduced silver in the Byzantine monetary system) and the 'politikon' (the silver local Constantinopolitan denomination by mid 14th century). If we were to follow its other manifestations as 'monnaie noire' based on the tornesii of Giovanni II Orsini of Arta that were copied and used extensively throughout the Balkans, the Danube trade and the Bulgarian and Byzantine Black Sea on one hand and the tornesii of the Maona di Chio minted by the Genoese corporation for the Aegean trade, the career of this coinage goes well to the mid 16th century.

This whole post is amazing. It is going to take me awhile to digest it, and I'm going off on multiple tangents like the 'monnaie noire'.  It is going to be a fun week.

[theotokevoithi]

Excellent collector !

Robert de Courtenay as a latin emperor of Constantinoupolis (1221-1228) after the crusade conquest, gave permission to Geoffroy II de Villehardouin (1195-1246) to mint coins in Achaia / Clarentia castle in order to establish the feudalism in south Greece. Guillaume II de Villehardouin (1211-1278) was Geoffroy s II brother. 

It is billon and it has a cross and a representation of Basilica of St. Martin located in Tours, France. Imitating the heavier and of better silver percentage Denier Tournois of France.

After the collapse of the byzantines the crusaders of south greece decided to mint a coin that contained silver, was western in style and was locally minted. It is considered a crusader coinage.

It circulated in Balkans (tornesello and after tornese) as the main low value coinage.

The genovese and the venetians in the region used coinage of the same style and yes it was ''black'' money of low value, but it contained silver.

This is a western coinage line for Balkans, Greece, Levante.

This post is better than expected, thank you !!

[Bonshaw]

Happy weekend! It is time for the next coin from my father's collection, #4/83.

First, a shout-out to both @seth77 and @theotokevoithi. Thank you both so much for the wonderful rich details that you provided about last week's denier tournois. I loved the history surrounding the coin (including the mention of Geoffroy II de Villehardouin), the discussion about the coin's place in numismatic history, discussion about variations and mints, and the interesting citations. I especially loved the galleries of beautiful, related coins.

I saw some discussion about Umayyad Dirhams in Numis Forums earlier, so today's coin popped up when I was choosing the next coin to post. It is an Umayyad Dirham from Damascus.

Coin: 4/83

Ruler: Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 AD)

Type: AR Umayyad Dirham

Location: Damascus

Weight: 3.184 g

Width: 27.5 mm

Height: 27.7 mm

Thickness (flan): 0.64 mm

Purchase date: August 15, 1969

Vendor: Dan Brown's Coin Shop, Inc., Denver, Colorado

Purchase price: $7.00

 

 

Here is the envelope that it came in:

 

And here is the invoice:

And here are some historical notes written on an associated notecard by my father:

I love how there are no images on these coins, but only script. Is this an outworking of Islamic aniconism?

I would love to see related coins, historical notes, and numismatic details - all of these are making this a very rich experience for me.

 

Edited March 30 by Bonshaw

[theotokevoithi]

This is a coin of superb quality. The collection is eastern roman oriented.

The arabs, during this period , had the best silver coinage. The byzantine miliaresion coin imitates the silver arab coin standard (or being double struk on them).

Unfortunately the faith of islam forbids representations even on coins.

The frontal side is dedicated to the acceptance that Allah is the only god and Muhammad his prophet and the other side refers to the arab ruler or/and religious verses.

Mu'awiya I, founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate (661-680), invaded cyprus, kos,rhodes, cities in the levante,armenia,izmir etc of eastern roman empire before signing a peace treaty with Constantine IV. However in 717 the arabs besieged Constantinoupolis unsuccessfully. The arabs of this age must be considered more as islamic raiding groups / pirates / saracens / various ethnicities and not an organised army.

The first caliphs continued to use silver Sassanian coin types in Iran and Iraq, and gold and copper Byzantine coin types in Syria and Egypt. Your type is minted after 697. An educated guess, not speaking arab language,  is that it is a silver dirham of al walid i (705-715) or after until 750. By weight and size its ok, check the link for the Umayyad copper fals coins (7 dollars?).

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/umayyad_caliphate-1.html

 

I chose an early sassanian type drachma of the first arab chaliphs, a later  arab dirham and a dirham of al Hakam Cordoba representing the Arabs( concerning the Byzantines).This was the silver dollar for centuries (dirham).

I am happy that this post continues.

 

[Bonshaw]

@theotokevoithi, I want to thank you for this detailed post. It has sent me on a long voyage learning about the Umayyad caliphs and these drachmas and dirhams.

I have spent a good amount of time comparing the Arabic script on this Dirham to different coins and databases, which has been fascinating. 

I wish I could go to Dan Brown's coin shop in Denver and pay $7.00 for coins like these now!  1969 was a long time ago.

I looked up Dan Brown and discovered that he had some numismatic fame. He is the dealer who told the story about the 1964 D Peace dollars and said he had someone wiling to sell a few to him. Then things got hot with the mint hunting them all down, and he never closed the deal. HIs shop was right by the Denver mint, and he knew the superintendant.

 

 

Edited April 5 by Bonshaw

[Jims,Coins]

When`s the next coin?

[Bonshaw]

1 hour ago, Jims,Coins said:

When`s the next coin?

Looks like tomorrow morning - thanks for asking!

[Sol_Invictus]

Thanks so much for sharing your father’s collection! I’ve really been enjoying following along on this thread. Regarding your dirham, you can be a bit more precise with the date. These coins all have pretty much the same text, except the date and mint, which are written in the obverse margin in roughly the 1-2 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions, respectively. I have received help on this forum in the past from the many experts here on reading these Islamic coins. I think Zeno.ru is a good web resource for this. Especially http://search.zeno.ru/dictionary.php for reading the dates.

Your father lists AH 95 as the date of the coin on the envelope, which looks about right to me, though I am no expert on this. This is the Hijri year, which counts lunar years since Muhammad left Mecca for Medina. The year AH 95 corresponds to 714-715 CE, which as @theotokevoithi notes, would place this coin as being minted just at the end of the reign of al-Walid.

Lokking forward to your next coin!

[Bonshaw]

1 hour ago, Sol_Invictus said:

Thanks so much for sharing your father’s collection! I’ve really been enjoying following along on this thread. Regarding your dirham, you can be a bit more precise with the date. These coins all have pretty much the same text, except the date and mint, which are written in the obverse margin in roughly the 1-2 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions, respectively. I have received help on this forum in the past from the many experts here on reading these Islamic coins. I think Zeno.ru is a good web resource for this. Especially http://search.zeno.ru/dictionary.php for reading the dates.

Your father lists AH 95 as the date of the coin on the envelope, which looks about right to me, though I am no expert on this. This is the Hijri year, which counts lunar years since Muhammad left Mecca for Medina. The year AH 95 corresponds to 714-715 CE, which as @theotokevoithi notes, would place this coin as being minted just at the end of the reign of al-Walid.

Lokking forward to your next coin!

This is fantastic!  By comparing Islamic scripts to other coins I found online, I had identified where the year and mint were, but haven't yet figured out what they said. I'll try Zeno.ru for more info.

[Bonshaw]

Happy Sunday! It is time for the next coin from my father's collection, #5/83. Choosing this coin for this week was inspired by the Easter thread a little earlier.

This coin doesn't seem to have been part of the main collection that my father had at one time in the binder; it doesn't have his writeup notecard associated with it. There seems to be no formal receipt for this coin in his thick stack of receipts. I think it likely that the lower dollar value of this coin ($2.50) meant that it was a cash transaction without a receipt. I have only purchase info that he wrote on the coin envelope (date, amount, and coin details),  I include what I have here.

Coin: 5/83

Ruler: Constantine X (1059-67)

Identification: Ratto 2021, S 1853

Type: AE (is this a Follis?)

Location: unlisted (Constantinople?)

Weight: 10.825 g

Width: 30.8 mm

Height: 31.6 mm

Thickness (flan): 1.7 mm

Purchase date: July 29, 1978

Vendor: unknown

Purchase price: $2.50.

This was clearly overstruck on another coin, as my father notes on the envelope.

I 

I love the blacks, browns, and rusty reds of this coin.

I'm actually not sure which side of the coin is the front, but I'm going with:

Obverse: Constantine X with Eudocia, standing facing, holding a labarum on three steps

Reverse: Christ facing, standing in robes.

As I said, I don't seem to have the receipt, and there is no notecard, but here is the envelope with details. These are in my father's handwriting, so the envelope is not original from the vendor:

So that is what I have on this one. Very much an ugly / beautiful coin in my view!  Thanks to everyone for all of the assistance, information, and enthusiasm that you have been providing.

Edited April 7 by Bonshaw

[Jims,Coins]

388. AE Follis - Silverdenar 8-9-19 $11.50 - Minted at Constantinople during the reign of Constantine X and Eudochia between 25 November 1059 - 21 May 1067. Obv. +EMMANOVHA.: (GOD IS WITH US) Christ standing facing on footstool, wearing nimbus cr., pallium and colobium, and holding book of Gospels with both hands. Rev. +KWN TAK EVAK AVrO. Eudochia (on l.) and Constantine X, bearded (on r.) stg. facing, holding between them labarum, with cross on shaft, resting on three steps, each wears crown and loros. BCVS #1853. CBE #8 pg. 247.

 This is the sellers picture

This is what the coin looks like.