Uncertain Ruler, Silver, Basilikon, Imitation, Uncertain Mint, 1294-1320
Obverse
Christ seated on backless throne. Right hand raised in benediction Gospels in left hand. To left and right, IC̅ XC̅. Inscription starting at 2h.
ΚΥΗΕIΟΗΤ
Symbol
Six-pointed star in left and right fields above throne.
Reverse
Andronikos II, with long beard, standing on left, and Michael IX, with short beard, on right, holding between them labarum on globe within base. Inscription starting at 2h and letters with marked serifs.
VVTOKPT-OKOM
Obverse
Christ seated on backless throne. Right hand raised in benediction Gospels in left hand. To left and right, IC̅ XC̅. Inscription starting at 2h.
ΚΥΗΕIΟΗΤ
Symbol
Six-pointed star in left and right fields above throne.
Reverse
Andronikos II, with long beard, standing on left, and Michael IX, with short beard, on right, holding between them labarum on globe within base. Inscription starting at 2h and letters with marked serifs.
VVTOKPT-OKOM
| Accession number | BZC.2006.14 |
|---|---|
| Ruler | Uncertain Ruler |
| Date of Reign | 1294–1320 |
| Associated Authority | Andronikos II Palaiologos Michael IX Palaiologos |
| Metal | Silver |
| Denomination | Basilikon |
| Mint | Uncertain Mint |
| Date | 1294 – 1320 |
| Diameter | 18.0 mm |
| Weight | 1.47 g |
| Relation of Dies | 6:00 |
| Shape | Flat |
Acquisition History
LHS Sale 97, 10 May 2006, lot 266 from Protonarios collection
Commentary
Although the style of the emperors’ representation is rather satisfactory, the elongated, clumsy figure of Christ is not. The faulty inscriptions and their epigraphy, as well as the lower weight, indicate that this coin is probably an imitation, as Philip Grierson hypothesized (DOC 5.1:146–47), not a three-quarter basilikon, as Bendall and Protonotarios suggest (“More Rare Unpublished Coins of the Empires of Nicaea and Thessalonica”).
D. M. Metcalf, “Echoes of the Name of Lorenzo Tiepolo: Imitations of Venetian Grossi in the Balkans.”