I have two billon trachea that came as part of a group lot of Byzantine bronzes. There is actually a third one, but I was able to identify it - Alexius I Comnenus. These coins are typically crude, and I think that they are from the 11th - 12th centuries, which is actually not saying much. 4.1 grams 4.9 grams Would the CT trachy specialists be able to help? Thanks!
I would use https://coins.labarum.info/en/catalog as its a great resource for identification. The second one is quite scarce and thus a great pickup for a group lot: The first one belongs to @BenSi and is one of the best examples of the type I have seen. Its Manuel Comnenus, Billion Aspron Trachy SBCV-1966 DOC IV -13c The second one doesn't come up that often... Latin Rulers of Constantinople: Anonymous (1204-1261) BI Large Module, Constantinople (Sear 2039; CLBC 11.18.1; DOC IV Type S; Grierson 1259) Obv: Columnar legend O/A/ΓΙ/OC to left, NЄ/T/P/O/C to right; Full-length figure of Saint Peter nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion, holds in right hand scepter cruciger, and in left, two keys Rev: MP - ΘV in upper field, columnar legend A/ΓΙO/CO to left, PI/TI/CA to right; Full-length figure of Virgin Hagisoritissa nimbate, orans, turned to right, wearing tunic and maphorion; Manus Dei in upper field Dim: 32 mm, 3.71 g
Thank you! I will bookmark the link. Also, very nice examples. The first coin is beautiful - well centered and an excellent strike. The second coin is also an excellent one with great detail. I thought that my second coin had the Virgin Orans on the reverse, but when I did a Google search with that as one of the parameters, nothing of any use came up, which is about par for the course.
As devil's advocate, I could still recommend the Wildwinds site. http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/i.html It's not remotely as comprehensive as the Labarum site @Quant.Geek recommended, but for commoner issues, that can actually be an advantage for (Teacher, I Raise My Hand) the relative novice. Within individual reigns, you can get the whole page with thumbnails of the individual coins.
Here's the Alexius I Comnenus BI aspron trachy that I mentioned in my opening post. I didn't include this coin last night because the lighting conditions weren't right. This coin requires good, diffuse daylight for a halfway decent photo. As these coins go, I guess it is fairly typical. There seem to be a couple of edge chips, not surprising given the cup shaped flan and the brittle metal. That this coin wasn't crushed into fragments at some point over the past near 1,000 years is quite remarkable. This coin weighs 3.0 grams. Alexius I Comnenus, 1081-1118 BI aspron trachy Obverse: Nimbate Christ enthroned facing, wearing pallium and colobium, holding book of Gospels in left hand; IC-XC across fields Reverse: + ΑΛ ΔЄC, bust facing, wearing crown and jewelled chlamys, holding cruciform sceptre and globus cruciger. Sear 1918
