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An Introduction to Billion and AE Trachea, The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Billion Trachy
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<p>[QUOTE="BenSi, post: 8314514, member: 95174"]Many collectors have run across these in group lots, coin shows and local dealers, just noting them as a curiosity. <u>The coins are far more numerous than the knowledge behind them. </u>Here is a brief breakdown of the denomination.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472087[/ATTACH] </p><p>Manuel Comnenus I Billion Trachy SBCV-1966</p><p><br /></p><p>The cup shaped coins first appeared as gold coins in the 11th century however in 1092 the coin reform of Alexius changed that. In the first coin reform in 600 years, coins were issued cup shaped in Gold, Electrum, Billion .<b><u>The Alexius coin reform marks a turning point in numismatics, majority of the new system was based on mixed metal coinage, this was a first in the history of coinage.</u></b></p><p><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472089[/ATTACH] </p><p>Pictured Above, Hyperpyron, Electrum Aspron Trachy and Billion Trachy.</p><p><br /></p><p>The most common of the cup shaped coins is the Billion Aspron Trachy. <u>The word Aspron means white but the coins we see now are not always white in color.</u></p><p><br /></p><p>Here is an example of that, the same issue of Alexius I Comnenus but very different conditions. The reason for this is each of these coins were AE with silver added, then a silver wash was added before circulation. Then during circulation and during the time before they were recovered time took its toll.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472090[/ATTACH] </p><p>Alexius SBCV-1918 </p><p><br /></p><p>Trachea come in different shapes and sizes because they were minted for several hundred years, as with all things in time, they changed. To help explain the denomination I break it into three sections, 12th century issues, Latin Rule Issues , Palaeologan Issues</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472091[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>12th century trachea are the easiest to attribute, they tend to be larger in size, better stuck and legends are still legible. They represent the empire at the end of its finest.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472092[/ATTACH] </p><p>Above Various 12th century issues.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p>At the end of the 12th century is where the confusion starts for the collector, a series of coins that are Bulgarian imitations or faithful copies ( Lower Value Copies of Manuel, Isaac II and Alexius III) come into existence, these, coins similar to the original issues but underweight, smaller flans, less silver, to add to the problematic attributing ,during the reign of Alexius III or the Latins ,older trachea began to be clipped to smaller sizes. These imitation coins at this time are under debate as to who issued them. Many of the original books on the subject have the imitations as Bulgarian, the main reason for this is that is where most hoards of them were found, current thought is these were issued in Constantinople during Latin rule or maybe even done in a field mint for the military, this remains uncertain.</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantinople falls in 1203, the knights of the 4th crusade on route to Jerusalem found the riches much closer. The unarmed city fell quickly, and a pair of puppet Emperors were put in place, the reign was short because they could not pay for the new positions.</p><p><br /></p><p>The new rulers of Constantinople did not start a new currency, the Latin rulers attempted to continue the coinage of Eastern Romans. Rarely these coins were well struck, few came out as attractive. One interesting note is the rulers did not put their names on the coinage, it would seem without a name the pride in the coinage disappears.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472093[/ATTACH] </p><p>Above Nicer examples of the Latin rule issues. </p><p><br /></p><p>As time continues trachea become a less valuable denomination, the silver content began being reduced during Manuel I Comnenus reign. In some post 1203 examples the silver disappears completely creating a copper coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>The kingdoms in exile still make some beautiful examples, I include these as the Palaeologan period for trachea, a true attempt to the grandness of the 12th century issues, Again the sheer quantity of different designs makes attributing the coin much more difficult. The details make a difference, making attribution possible but a bit more of a puzzle. The more interesting ones are always sought after. Trachea is minted in Nicaea and Thessalonica until Palaeologan return to Constantinople in 1261.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>During this last hundred years of trachea being minted they became a bit smaller and flatter, no longer deep cup shaped. The last cup coin was minted in 1367. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472094[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I did not attempt to explain the ongoing debate on why they were created in that shape, no one has the real answer, just theories but that adds to the mystery.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>One name we are indebted to for trachea identification is <b>Simon Bendall,</b> in 1954 he collected his first Eastern Roman coin, an Isaac II trachy, he was in a field no other collector or dealer focused on, he was one collector that paved the way. He has several books and numerous articles attributed to him.</p><p><br /></p><p>The fall of Constantinople changed history forever and the modern world was born. What we have now are remnants of the brilliance of the Eastern Roman Empire. Nothing is more distinctly Roman than these cup shaped reminders of the past</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope this is a step to helping coin collectors have a better understanding of trachea. <u>A common denomination without a common knowledge. </u></p><p><br /></p><p> We have many great collectors on this board that can easily add to what I have written, we also have an excellent thread dealing with trachea , literally we have hundreds of examples in it. It also has an explanation of how these coins were created.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-trouble-with-t%CC%B6r%CC%B6i%CC%B6b%CC%B6b%CC%B6l%CC%B6e%CC%B6s%CC%B6-trachys.308085/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-trouble-with-t%CC%B6r%CC%B6i%CC%B6b%CC%B6b%CC%B6l%CC%B6e%CC%B6s%CC%B6-trachys.308085/">The trouble with t̶r̶i̶b̶b̶l̶e̶s̶ trachys | Coin Talk</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Any questions or comments please feel free, my specialty is the 12th century, but we have numerous collectors on this board who specialize in the later time periods. I am sure they would be happy to clarify.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="BenSi, post: 8314514, member: 95174"]Many collectors have run across these in group lots, coin shows and local dealers, just noting them as a curiosity. [U]The coins are far more numerous than the knowledge behind them. [/U]Here is a brief breakdown of the denomination. [ATTACH=full]1472087[/ATTACH] Manuel Comnenus I Billion Trachy SBCV-1966 The cup shaped coins first appeared as gold coins in the 11th century however in 1092 the coin reform of Alexius changed that. In the first coin reform in 600 years, coins were issued cup shaped in Gold, Electrum, Billion .[B][U]The Alexius coin reform marks a turning point in numismatics, majority of the new system was based on mixed metal coinage, this was a first in the history of coinage. [/U][/B] [ATTACH=full]1472089[/ATTACH] Pictured Above, Hyperpyron, Electrum Aspron Trachy and Billion Trachy. The most common of the cup shaped coins is the Billion Aspron Trachy. [U]The word Aspron means white but the coins we see now are not always white in color.[/U] Here is an example of that, the same issue of Alexius I Comnenus but very different conditions. The reason for this is each of these coins were AE with silver added, then a silver wash was added before circulation. Then during circulation and during the time before they were recovered time took its toll. [ATTACH=full]1472090[/ATTACH] Alexius SBCV-1918 Trachea come in different shapes and sizes because they were minted for several hundred years, as with all things in time, they changed. To help explain the denomination I break it into three sections, 12th century issues, Latin Rule Issues , Palaeologan Issues [ATTACH=full]1472091[/ATTACH] 12th century trachea are the easiest to attribute, they tend to be larger in size, better stuck and legends are still legible. They represent the empire at the end of its finest. [ATTACH=full]1472092[/ATTACH] Above Various 12th century issues. At the end of the 12th century is where the confusion starts for the collector, a series of coins that are Bulgarian imitations or faithful copies ( Lower Value Copies of Manuel, Isaac II and Alexius III) come into existence, these, coins similar to the original issues but underweight, smaller flans, less silver, to add to the problematic attributing ,during the reign of Alexius III or the Latins ,older trachea began to be clipped to smaller sizes. These imitation coins at this time are under debate as to who issued them. Many of the original books on the subject have the imitations as Bulgarian, the main reason for this is that is where most hoards of them were found, current thought is these were issued in Constantinople during Latin rule or maybe even done in a field mint for the military, this remains uncertain. Constantinople falls in 1203, the knights of the 4th crusade on route to Jerusalem found the riches much closer. The unarmed city fell quickly, and a pair of puppet Emperors were put in place, the reign was short because they could not pay for the new positions. The new rulers of Constantinople did not start a new currency, the Latin rulers attempted to continue the coinage of Eastern Romans. Rarely these coins were well struck, few came out as attractive. One interesting note is the rulers did not put their names on the coinage, it would seem without a name the pride in the coinage disappears. [ATTACH=full]1472093[/ATTACH] Above Nicer examples of the Latin rule issues. As time continues trachea become a less valuable denomination, the silver content began being reduced during Manuel I Comnenus reign. In some post 1203 examples the silver disappears completely creating a copper coin. The kingdoms in exile still make some beautiful examples, I include these as the Palaeologan period for trachea, a true attempt to the grandness of the 12th century issues, Again the sheer quantity of different designs makes attributing the coin much more difficult. The details make a difference, making attribution possible but a bit more of a puzzle. The more interesting ones are always sought after. Trachea is minted in Nicaea and Thessalonica until Palaeologan return to Constantinople in 1261. During this last hundred years of trachea being minted they became a bit smaller and flatter, no longer deep cup shaped. The last cup coin was minted in 1367. [ATTACH=full]1472094[/ATTACH] I did not attempt to explain the ongoing debate on why they were created in that shape, no one has the real answer, just theories but that adds to the mystery. One name we are indebted to for trachea identification is [B]Simon Bendall,[/B] in 1954 he collected his first Eastern Roman coin, an Isaac II trachy, he was in a field no other collector or dealer focused on, he was one collector that paved the way. He has several books and numerous articles attributed to him. The fall of Constantinople changed history forever and the modern world was born. What we have now are remnants of the brilliance of the Eastern Roman Empire. Nothing is more distinctly Roman than these cup shaped reminders of the past I hope this is a step to helping coin collectors have a better understanding of trachea. [U]A common denomination without a common knowledge. [/U] We have many great collectors on this board that can easily add to what I have written, we also have an excellent thread dealing with trachea , literally we have hundreds of examples in it. It also has an explanation of how these coins were created. [URL='https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-trouble-with-t%CC%B6r%CC%B6i%CC%B6b%CC%B6b%CC%B6l%CC%B6e%CC%B6s%CC%B6-trachys.308085/']The trouble with t̶r̶i̶b̶b̶l̶e̶s̶ trachys | Coin Talk[/URL] Any questions or comments please feel free, my specialty is the 12th century, but we have numerous collectors on this board who specialize in the later time periods. I am sure they would be happy to clarify.[/QUOTE]
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An Introduction to Billion and AE Trachea, The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Billion Trachy
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