OK, everyone can have a good laugh! This coin is graded TPG MS-4/5 5/5 looks to me like its been thru WW3 Still, its the best one of the type I have seen so far/ and it was cheap $240 Byzantine Empire Restored: sort off Michael IX/ Andronicus II 1282-1328 AV Hyperypron ND Constantinople mint (only mint left) 24mm. 4.33g. crappy gold content .600 obverse: Virgin Mary in side City Walls since Turkish Army is outside reverse: Christ standing/ Crowning Michael IX and Andronicus
This is the best I saw on acsearch. Mary looks like a character from Star Wars. Interesting coin @panzerman , thanks for sharing.
@panzerman You may not be to thrilled with the above coin, but from the few dozen I've seen from this time frame, it would be in the top ten. Turbulent times call for drastic measures, ie. reduction in the purity of gold in coinage and the lack of talent in creating dies to strike coins with. They just made do with what they had. I'm not sure about the history of the time, but maybe Constantinople may have been all that was left of the Eastern Roman empire. When you are surrounded by your enemy, one just has to settle.
