I got this coin today, extremely rare, I just thought I would share. Not perfect but I have never seen another example in person and only one on the web. I am very happy to add this to my collection. Theodore II Ducas-Lascaris (Nicaea). AE Tetarteron. Magnesia mint. OBV: Star within crescent. REV : Emperor standing holding, wearing loros, holding labarum-headed sceptre and globus with cross. DOC IV pl.XXXVI,14 Ref Sear: 2146 If you have Nicaea coinage, please share.
Wow, @BenSi, that's pretty amazing, for a tetarteron as late as that. If I had a hat, it would be off to you. Consider the source, but, Congratulations!!! Here's the only one (of mmmMaybe three, all scyphat trachea) that's easy to find the .jpg for. As you will know, this is of John, nearer the fall of Constantinople (...to, well, Those People). I like him for having given Jean de Brienne a run for his money, after Jean landed in Constantinople as the papal candidate for Emperor, effectively as regent for Baldwin I. ...I need this example especially for how much of the legends are struck up. ...Maybe the lower mintage, compared to the halcyon days of the 12th century, helped to stabilize the minting practices, on that mundane a level. ...With western European medieval as my primary frame of reference, that's just a guess. It looks as if whoever struck this wasn't so pressured, and/or hung over, that he wasn't invested in what the end product would look like.
I have never seen one of these before. And I imagine that flan started its life as something else and then it was clipped, right?
Pretty astute point, @Only a Poor Old Man. From my western European center of gravity, I need periodic reminding that elsewhere in the world, clipping could be an intentional, even official means of regulating the weight.
Gentlemen, i don't beileve these coins or most late issues were actually clipped, i think it was the poorly cut flans the cojns were struck on. Weight for other coins would show an inconsistency, i belive they were junky flans to start. I will point out mine is an opinion but i think that is most logical conclusion, i know others who would believe that it was done after striking thus a type of clipping. Simon
Very interesting coin of a type I have not seen before. Well, you learn something new everyday! (At least hopefully)
I think it is a valid opinion. If we take into consideration the sad state of current affairs when the coin was minted and the generally fragile geopolitical climate, it is understandable that it wasn't a high priority to make perfectly round flans for a denomination that wasn't worth much to begin with!
Very nice @BenSi! That is an extraordinary coin which is very difficult to come by. Congrats! Here is its sibling... Empire of Nicaea: John III Ducas-Vatatzes (1221-1254) Æ Tetarteron, Magnesia Mint (Sear 2117; DOC IV.50) Obv: Cross within crescent-shaped ornament decorated with pellets Rev: Half-length figure of emperor wearing stemma, divitision, collar-piece, and paneled loros of simplified types; holds in right hand labarum-headed scepter, and in left globus cruciger or globus surmounted by patriarchal cross
Beautiful example Ram, here is a little more common Theodore II. 2145 Theodore II (Magn.) AE Tetarteron SBCV-2145 DOC IV 13 OBV- Lys. Pellet in Upper and lower field, to either side. REV- Full length figure of emperor wearing stemma, divitision and Chalmys; holds in r hand labarum on a long shaft and in l. anexikakia. Size 18.57 Weight 1.9gm DOC lists 2 examples sized 17mm and 21mm and only one weight .95gm
@BenSi, it's almost depressing to see the 'Frankish' influence creeping in, with the fleur de lis (...maybe from Florence as well as France?), not only in the later issues of Constantinople, but already in Nicaea. ...As of this dire moment in the 13th century, at least for the Greeks, the Latin and Greek communions got Just That Close to reunification --except, Oops, Spoiler Alert, it didn't happen. But the coins continue to symptomize the ongoing, relentlessly intrusive Frankish influence, in the political and economic spheres. ...Right, and, with apologies, it's a beautiful coin. ...At a safe enough historical remove to appreciate that part of it for its own sake!