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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;seth77, post: 3947851, member: 56653&quot;]This particular trachy could be assigned to either Manuel of the Komnenodoukai of Thessalonica (1230-1237) or to Michael II of the Komnenodoukai of Epirus-Arta (1236-1268) of the Greek Angelos faction.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1040276[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3"><i>AE18x15x12mm, 1.02g, billon aspron trachy, Thessalonica (or Arta?) mint, cca. 1235/6 or 1237.</i></font></p><p><font size="3"><i>O / AΓ/HOC / ΘEO/ΔP/O/C<b>; </b>Half-length bust of Saint Theodore, bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic, holding spear in r. hand and shield in l. hand.</i></font></p><p><font size="3"><i>M[ANOVHΛ ΔEC - O A ΔM] (or similar legend for Michael II); Half-length bust of Despot left and half-length bust of military saint(?) (Demetrios?), holding between them sheathed sword pointing downwards. Manuel wears stemma, divitision, collar-piece and jeweled loros of simplified type. Military saint wears tunic, breastplate and sagion. In upper-center a semicircular cloud from which Manus Dei crowns the Despot.</i></font></p><p><font size="3"><i>cf. DOC 8.2 Type F, p.576; Sear 2182/2233.</i></font></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A rare, late issue small module (on clipped flan) for Manuel. If actually Manuel.</p><p><br /></p><p>Manuel Komnenos-Doukas never assumed the full title of Emperor (<i>basileus</i>) but ruled Thessalonica as <i>despot</i>. During the later part of his reign, Michael II of Epirus begins his rise, effectively ruling by 1236 territories in Epirus, Thessaly and Thessalonica. After Manuel got deposed in 1237, Michael II became even more prominent.</p><p><br /></p><p>Considering the time frame, the historical context and the rarity of these coins, another possibility is that they were minted actually by Michael II, after (or even before Manuel&#039;s banishment in 1237), possibly at Arta, in his Epirote domain (cf. Bendall, NCirc 104/1, 1996, S. 3 ff. Nr. 3).</p><p><br /></p><p>It is also possible that both <i>despotes </i>shared this type in 1235 (as per DOC, which does not note the weaponry of Saint Theodore nor the&nbsp; exact legends) to 1237(?) as per Bendall. If actually an issue of Michael II of Epirus, it should be Sear 2233; cf. Sommer, MBR 76.1 and unrecorded in DOC.</p><p><br /></p><p>Similar examples <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2162732" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2162732" rel="nofollow">here </a>and <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5196038" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5196038" rel="nofollow">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>From the Despot Collection <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=298223" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=298223" rel="nofollow">here</a>.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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