I get excited when I find another gem for my collection as we know we all do. This one would have got a very good price from one of the major auction houses but I found it on ebay for less than $10.00 The coin in hand is one of the best I have seen anywhere, keep in mind this is a fraction of a tetarteron so it is very small 18mm at it largest points, the die size is 14mm, my earlier example in my collection was nice but this takes the cake. I know tetartera is not a popular collecting topic but I really appreciate this forums enthusiasm in letting us share our newest treasures 1143-1180AD MANUEL AE HALF TETARTERON S-1980 DOC IV 23 OBV Bust of St. George, beardless and nimbate, wearing tunic, breastplate, and Saigon; holds in r. hand spear, and in l. shield. REV Bust of emperor, bearded, wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece, and jeweled loros of simplified type; holds in r. hand labarum headed scepter, and in l. Globus cruciger. Size 18 mm Weight 2.4gm The main reason that tetartera in this condition are so hard to find is they remained in circulation, I have never seen a tetarteron overstruck ( Alexius I tetartera were overstruck on anonymous follis parts) , they just remained in circulation important to the local economies, in fact they were important enough to be imitated many decades after the rulers death.
Congrats on the attractive tetartera @BenSi and to get it for less than $10 is awesome. I'm not a Byzantine collector, but I would purchase that coin at a much higher price. It has a wonderful look to it.
These can really be great deals if you have an eye for quality, just don't seem to get very much attention. Great score! I have had a lot of these, but that one is one of the best I have ever seen.
I have two tetartera that demonstrate a problem with so many such coins. The first one has clear legend at the left of both sides while the bottom one is stronger to the right. The weight difference attracted my attention briefly but I never followed up on the matter. I found the Sear listings less than clear. For a while I planned to sell one but on coins this cheap, keeping both is an option. 4.73g 3.76g
Going by the archeological findings, the most abundant coinage of the 12th century is tetartera and coinage of Manuel I is the most common. It is extremely rare to find any examples with full legends and nice centering, they were made too quickly too find any perfection and as I stated above they remained in circulation for many decades. The larger pieces or full tetartera are easier to find in better condition but they always have their faults. Here is one coin I was given by a dealer for free before tetartera had a fan base, the reverse was near perfect, the obverse well you can see. It is at 23mm around 5gm The half ( or semi) tetartera are very sparse of great examples, too small, made in huge quantities and perfection did not seem to be anyone's priority. BTW even though the catalogs don't note this , their were multiple sizes of this coin, one even smaller than mine above. BTW Doug both of those examples are above average.
My criterion for collecting coins is appearance, that is what they look like in hand, a work of beauty, in your case. Could the moneyer who sent this coin from the mint, a most humble example of his mint work, ever have dreamt that his handiwork would become a treasure to hold and view some thousand years into the future? The fates have been kind to this coin. Now, do your part if safekeeping it to its next caretaker.
I have a couple of half tetartera, both from a group lot of Byzantine coins acquired five years ago. The Alexius III is relatively complete although on a flan that looks like leftover scrap metal. Alexius III Angelus-Comnenus, CE 1197-1203 AE half tetarteron, 14 x 17 mm, 1.1 gm Thessalonica mint Obv: Θ/ΓE left P/W to right; St. George, bust facing, nimbate, wearing cuirasse and sagion, holding spear and sword hilt Rev: ALEXIW DECPOT, Alexius, crowned, wearing divitision and chlamys, standing facing, holding labarum and cross on globe, with hand of God at upper right Ref: SB 2016; BMC 41-42 Someday I might try to clean this Manuel Comnenus. I think there may be some decent details on the portrait underneath the encrustations. Manuel I Comnenus, CE 1143-1180 AE half tetarteron, 16 mm, 1.6 gm Uncertain Greek mint Obv: Monogram Sear 58 (D-M-K-PL clockwise from left at the ends of a cross) in large letters Rev: no legend, crowned, unbearded bust of Manuel facing, wearing loros, holding labarum and cross on globe Ref: SB 1979
Tiff, I had noticed this coin in your collection before , I have two examples of these and they are EXTREMLY difficult to find. The coin catalogs don't give it the rarity it deserves.
I find myself split on this, we recently had a survey about this on CT. I am trying to find attractive coins but complete details as well. I got lucky with this one. My signature link has my main collection , what I consider to be my best examples https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5633 but I do have a lot more of tetartera that were not included, but in many cases it was a tough call. Here are the other examples. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=6575
My contribution. These little pieces don't get much recognition. Finding the quality that Ben Si acquired is most excellent.
Ironically even though it is rarely studied, it was the most used coin throughout the empire during the 12th century. I recently got this coin from a Steve Album auction, this empire at this time existed eastern Anatolia. This coin was thought to be influenced by John II tetartera . SELJUQ OF RUM: Mas'ud I, 1116-1156, AE fals (3.96g), NM, ND, A-1192, enthroned figure obverse, holding globus cruciger & labarum, decent strike, choice VF ( I personally know very little about this denomination but I wanted one for my John II collection.) Any additional information regarding it would be helpful. Here is a smaller half tetarteron John II SBCV-1955
