Under the radar rarity - Manuel 1 SB 1968

[ela126]

I'm going through the Nomos/Obolos sale a little bit and because i own a 1968, the sale price really jumped out at me.

obolos 34 - lot 1086

The point of focus here is the staff, usually a cross, is a labrarum. To my knowledge, no other difference. from what i can tell. obviously we are comparing a little worse quality, but the coin up top went for ~$1,000usd all in, the coin below... $7.

 

I do know, and i thank @Simon's FAC collection highlighting it, a third type, with a patriarchal cross, which i found out, is the example i've had in my collection for several years. Very cool to see rarities getting appreciated in the Byzantine sector.

 

Please feel free to insert any 1968's you have, or any "under the radar rarities"!

Edited November 12, 2024 by ela126

[catadc]

It did not go under the radar. 

I saw that the buyer of that lot purchased a few high condition, relatively rare tertartera. I did not look for other coins he might have purchased. Prices paid, at least for the lot I was interested in, were much more than what I was willing to pay, including a premium for condition, for rarity, for Nomos and God knows for what else. 

As for the SB1968 with labarum - the "plate coin" on Labarum is the same "unpublished" type: https://labarum.info/lbr/show.php?coin=19680

I see that Simon has 4 (four!) SB1968 with labarum in his image gallery on forumancientcoins. 

I paid more for shipping that the hammer for the coin below. Granted, it will not grade great, but it did not break the bank. Good enough for me; not good enough for Nomos clients, i guess. 

Edit: @ela126 Your 7 EUR coin has a special belt, in case you missed that. 

Edit2: @Simon Out of curiosity, the belt ornaments for SB1968 are listed somewhere? I see there can be a few.

Edited November 12, 2024 by catadc

[ela126]

@catadc you're very correct, the Nomos example certainly did not  go under the radar, rather i mean that it's a type that can go under the radar, due to the commonaility of the standard piece (i used poor language here). 

Wow, Simon is sitting on a goldmine! at least for Nomos bidders. There certainly were a few specialists interested in specific types, due to the focused nature of the auction/consignment.

Ahh, the 7 dollar coin is not my own, just a standard cross example i recently noticed in a sale. Someone else got lucky in that case.

[Simon]

@ela126, thanks for posting that result. I was checking out the auction and it had no coin that I needed, I really like buying from Nomo. 

I loved this coin SBCV-1968, it started my collection of the 12the century Eastern Roman Empire but the version with a Labrum comes with another far more interesting story. 

I had just started collecting tetartera, I was using yahoo thread for beginner questions and a very accomplished collector of Eastern Roman coins very patiently answered my questions. His name was Chris Connell. One of my earliest acquisitions was SBCV-1968 with a labarum. I showed it to him ( Via email) and he said I must publish it, it was a major find. I did not believe that small difference could make it that special. I did not publish it. As time went on I found the coin was published but not in DOC IV or Sear but in the much older publication of BMC  by Wroth. Under Manuel I Bronze I, #61

@catadc Said, I have numerous examples, my collection is vast. I was also very pleased to see both of your examples with a patriarchal cross. I really love yours @ela126. Let me know if you want to see or swap for it. 

This is my best example of SBCV-1968

 

Here is one of the Variations. 

 

And this was my first tetarteron. It had me stumped for two weeks before i attributed it. I bought a group lot from the son of a WWII vet that had that found a small amphora when landing in Africa. I bought the lot but this was the only tetarteron in the lot. It still very different from any other example I have, the metal, the legend. All different than the norm.

 

Additional note, hendy did mention variations would occur, he was not specific about this coin but I am certain he had seen the note in Wroths work but did not mention it in the text. 

The other Nomo surprise was the Isaac II, also a Constantinople issue. It got 460.00 That was a nice surprise to see the values go up.  

 

Edited November 12, 2024 by Simon

[ela126]

@SimonExcellent examples

i've seen Chris's name mentioned on provenance several time's but never realize who he was until now after a quick google search. That's a wonderful story and a good connection to who seems like one of the cornerstones of Byzantine numismatics. Very cool to have him take interest in one of your finds and i'd assume a great mentor. 

I noticed that Isaac II as well, a handsome piece certainly, was that piece more of a conditional rarity than anything else, not sure of the rarity of his tetaretons? (Isaac II is apparently a distant relative of mine, 28 generations.. random facts you dont need to know)

[Simon]

4 minutes ago, ela126 said:

I noticed that Isaac II as well, a handsome piece certainly, was that piece more of a conditional rarity than anything else, not sure of the rarity of his tetaretons? (Isaac II is apparently a distant relative of mine, 28 generations.. random facts you dont need to know)

Most of all of the City issued tetartera are rare, infact one of the most common is this OP SBCV-1968, this coins only circulated in the city. Rarely beyond and not in Greece.