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<p>[QUOTE="Pavlos, post: 7333126, member: 96635"]Manuel I Komnenos, the last Byzantine ruler to dominate the politics in the Mediterranean world, eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.pinimg.com/236x/5c/a4/41/5ca4413ce01cdff1e2b9f94ba05fdb12.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>He ruled nearly 40 years, from 1143 to 1180 which makes his coinage quite abundant and complex. Manuel started his reign with his father's very considerable treasury, which he effectively exhausted in 1156 during his failed expedition to Italy fighting the Normands. He had spent an enormous sum of 2,100,000 hyperpyra on this expedition (we are talking here about around 9 tons of pure gold).</p><p>The denominations in his reign, which were created in the monetary reform by his grandfather, were the AV Hyperpyron, EL Aspron trachy, worth 1/3 of the Hyperpyron, BI Trachy, worth 1/48 of the hyperpyron and the AE Tetarteron including it's half (and also the Metropolitan issues, which had a couple of percent of silver added to them).</p><p><br /></p><p>The EL Aspron trachea were minted in 5 types, with the precise sequence not known precisely. The third type (type C), also most likely the third coinage, shows the emperor standing with St. Theodore on the reverse. Type C issues were subjected to specific gravity measurements and this showed it had a gold carat amount of 5.5 (23% gold). The Type C is characteristic for it's thin and deeply concave fabric struck using small dies.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hereby my new EL Aspron addition of this cool type:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1280776[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Electrum Aspron Trachy. Constantinople mint, Type C, ca. 1160-1164.</b></p><p><b>Obverse:</b> ΙC - ΧC Christ Pantocrator, standing facing, nimbate and enrobed, raising right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels with his left; in field to left and right, star.</p><p><b>Reverse:</b> MA-NVHΛ - O/ ΘЄ/O/Δ/ω/PO/C Manuel and St. Theodore standing facing, both holding a sword in their outer hand, and holding a long patriarchal cross set on a globe between them.</p><p><b>Reference:</b> DOC 4c; Sear 1959.</p><p>4.63g; 33mm</p><p><br /></p><p>My coin really is 'Aspron' (White), as the color of gold is clearly lacking.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Billon Aspron Trachy contained around 6-7% of silver, with a silver wash, tariffing 1/48 to the hyperyron. However, later on it debased and was worth around 1/120 to the hyperpyron.</p><p><br /></p><p>I received this BI trachy recently as well, with a stunningly sharp obverse:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1280777[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Billon Aspron Trachy. Constantinople mint.</b></p><p><b>Obverse:</b> Christ seated facing on throne with back, wearing pallium and colobium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left; in fields, XC - IC.</p><p><b>Reverse:</b> ΜΑΝU[...] ΔЄCΠ / ΜΡ-ΦV Manuel I standing facing on the left, wearing divitision and chlamys, holding labarum in his right and globus cruciger in his left, crowned by the Virgin Mary, standing facing on the right.</p><p><b>Reference:</b> DOC IV 13F.1, Sear 1966.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin is missing it's silver wash (most trachea on the market are lacking the thin silver wash), however, I was glad to own a while ago one with almost all of it's silver wash available (eventhough the coin is quite poorly struck, especially on the obverse).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1280778[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Billon Aspron Trachy. Constantinople mint.</b></p><p><b>Obverse:</b> Christ seated facing on throne with back, wearing pallium and colobium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left; in fields, XC - IC.</p><p><b>Reverse:</b> ΜΑΝU[...] ΔЄCΠ / ΜΡ-ΦV Manuel I standing facing on the left, wearing divitision and chlamys, holding labarum in his right and globus cruciger in his left, crowned by the Virgin Mary, standing facing on the right.</p><p><b>Reference:</b> Sear 1966.</p><p>4.33g; 31mm</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your coins of Manuel I, and also share your Electrum trachea of various rulers![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Pavlos, post: 7333126, member: 96635"]Manuel I Komnenos, the last Byzantine ruler to dominate the politics in the Mediterranean world, eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower. [IMG]https://i.pinimg.com/236x/5c/a4/41/5ca4413ce01cdff1e2b9f94ba05fdb12.jpg[/IMG] He ruled nearly 40 years, from 1143 to 1180 which makes his coinage quite abundant and complex. Manuel started his reign with his father's very considerable treasury, which he effectively exhausted in 1156 during his failed expedition to Italy fighting the Normands. He had spent an enormous sum of 2,100,000 hyperpyra on this expedition (we are talking here about around 9 tons of pure gold). The denominations in his reign, which were created in the monetary reform by his grandfather, were the AV Hyperpyron, EL Aspron trachy, worth 1/3 of the Hyperpyron, BI Trachy, worth 1/48 of the hyperpyron and the AE Tetarteron including it's half (and also the Metropolitan issues, which had a couple of percent of silver added to them). The EL Aspron trachea were minted in 5 types, with the precise sequence not known precisely. The third type (type C), also most likely the third coinage, shows the emperor standing with St. Theodore on the reverse. Type C issues were subjected to specific gravity measurements and this showed it had a gold carat amount of 5.5 (23% gold). The Type C is characteristic for it's thin and deeply concave fabric struck using small dies. Hereby my new EL Aspron addition of this cool type: [ATTACH=full]1280776[/ATTACH] [B]Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Electrum Aspron Trachy. Constantinople mint, Type C, ca. 1160-1164. Obverse:[/B] ΙC - ΧC Christ Pantocrator, standing facing, nimbate and enrobed, raising right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels with his left; in field to left and right, star. [B]Reverse:[/B] MA-NVHΛ - O/ ΘЄ/O/Δ/ω/PO/C Manuel and St. Theodore standing facing, both holding a sword in their outer hand, and holding a long patriarchal cross set on a globe between them. [B]Reference:[/B] DOC 4c; Sear 1959. 4.63g; 33mm My coin really is 'Aspron' (White), as the color of gold is clearly lacking. The Billon Aspron Trachy contained around 6-7% of silver, with a silver wash, tariffing 1/48 to the hyperyron. However, later on it debased and was worth around 1/120 to the hyperpyron. I received this BI trachy recently as well, with a stunningly sharp obverse: [ATTACH=full]1280777[/ATTACH] [B]Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Billon Aspron Trachy. Constantinople mint. Obverse:[/B] Christ seated facing on throne with back, wearing pallium and colobium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left; in fields, XC - IC. [B]Reverse:[/B] ΜΑΝU[...] ΔЄCΠ / ΜΡ-ΦV Manuel I standing facing on the left, wearing divitision and chlamys, holding labarum in his right and globus cruciger in his left, crowned by the Virgin Mary, standing facing on the right. [B]Reference:[/B] DOC IV 13F.1, Sear 1966. This coin is missing it's silver wash (most trachea on the market are lacking the thin silver wash), however, I was glad to own a while ago one with almost all of it's silver wash available (eventhough the coin is quite poorly struck, especially on the obverse). [ATTACH=full]1280778[/ATTACH] [B]Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Billon Aspron Trachy. Constantinople mint. Obverse:[/B] Christ seated facing on throne with back, wearing pallium and colobium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left; in fields, XC - IC. [B]Reverse:[/B] ΜΑΝU[...] ΔЄCΠ / ΜΡ-ΦV Manuel I standing facing on the left, wearing divitision and chlamys, holding labarum in his right and globus cruciger in his left, crowned by the Virgin Mary, standing facing on the right. [B]Reference:[/B] Sear 1966. 4.33g; 31mm Please post your coins of Manuel I, and also share your Electrum trachea of various rulers![/QUOTE]
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