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Michael VIII Sear 2310 - On the Stamenon Denomination Attribution - Near Complete Reverse Legend
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<p>[QUOTE="The Trachy Enjoyer, post: 7354995, member: 118358"][ATTACH=full]1282224[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>MICHAEL VIII PALAEOLOGOS (1261-1282). Stamenon/Trachy. Thessalonica.</b></p><p>Obv: MP - ΘV / Half-length facing bust of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) orans.</p><p>Rev: ΔΠT ΠT - *OAΓ ΓANMC / Half-length busts of Michael and St. Demetrios, who holds a spear, holding patriarchal cross between them; above, star in center of firmament.</p><p>Sear 2310. Weight: 2.59 g. Diameter: 27 mm.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1282222[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1282221[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1282223[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This Stamenon, although already pretty rare, really stuck out to me due to the near complete reverse legend surviving on the coin (much more complete than the examples in DOC, LBC and the Billon Trachea of Michael VIII)! The first part of the reverse legend, ΔΠT ΠT, appears to be the result of an overstrike. The would leave ΔΠT on the legend, most likely the fragmentary remains of some form of XMIΔECΔΠTI. This would Translate to Michael and some form of Family name or titles.</p><p><br /></p><p>The rest of the reverse legend contains *OAΓ ΓANMC. The *OAΓ translates to holy or holy saint (depending on the interpretation of the letters). The ΓANMC section was harder to see but is some form of Demetrius either poorly spelled or poorly struck (or both).</p><p><br /></p><p>The attribution of this coin is contested. Eleni Lianta describes it as a stamenon where as Philip Grierson describes it as a normal trachy. From my understanding, there is no clear distinction between the two. Stamenon tend to be flatter and heavier where as the trachy has more curvature yet weighs less. (And to add to confusion, earlier trachys are indentified as Trachy Stamenon<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie81" alt=":shifty:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />)Assuming this is indeed the way stamenon are attributed (clarrifcation on this topic would be appriciated), then this coin would indeed be a stamenon due to an interesting feature...it is curved the wrong way! Its subtle yet clearly curves inwards on the obverse whereas trachys are the opposite. The method of striking trachys involved using dies with matched curvature, making an invertedly stuck coin almost impossible (of course, PMD is always possible)[ATTACH=full]1282278[/ATTACH]</p><p>A flat struck coin (especially with dies a bit too small) would make a slight inversion the other way possible. Thoughts? This obverse curve seems to indicate that sear 2310 is indeed a stamenon, as I don't think a trachy could possibly be minted with inverted curvature (I have never seen one).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="The Trachy Enjoyer, post: 7354995, member: 118358"][ATTACH=full]1282224[/ATTACH] [B]MICHAEL VIII PALAEOLOGOS (1261-1282). Stamenon/Trachy. Thessalonica.[/B] Obv: MP - ΘV / Half-length facing bust of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) orans. Rev: ΔΠT ΠT - *OAΓ ΓANMC / Half-length busts of Michael and St. Demetrios, who holds a spear, holding patriarchal cross between them; above, star in center of firmament. Sear 2310. Weight: 2.59 g. Diameter: 27 mm. [ATTACH=full]1282222[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1282221[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1282223[/ATTACH] This Stamenon, although already pretty rare, really stuck out to me due to the near complete reverse legend surviving on the coin (much more complete than the examples in DOC, LBC and the Billon Trachea of Michael VIII)! The first part of the reverse legend, ΔΠT ΠT, appears to be the result of an overstrike. The would leave ΔΠT on the legend, most likely the fragmentary remains of some form of XMIΔECΔΠTI. This would Translate to Michael and some form of Family name or titles. The rest of the reverse legend contains *OAΓ ΓANMC. The *OAΓ translates to holy or holy saint (depending on the interpretation of the letters). The ΓANMC section was harder to see but is some form of Demetrius either poorly spelled or poorly struck (or both). The attribution of this coin is contested. Eleni Lianta describes it as a stamenon where as Philip Grierson describes it as a normal trachy. From my understanding, there is no clear distinction between the two. Stamenon tend to be flatter and heavier where as the trachy has more curvature yet weighs less. (And to add to confusion, earlier trachys are indentified as Trachy Stamenon:shifty:)Assuming this is indeed the way stamenon are attributed (clarrifcation on this topic would be appriciated), then this coin would indeed be a stamenon due to an interesting feature...it is curved the wrong way! Its subtle yet clearly curves inwards on the obverse whereas trachys are the opposite. The method of striking trachys involved using dies with matched curvature, making an invertedly stuck coin almost impossible (of course, PMD is always possible)[ATTACH=full]1282278[/ATTACH] A flat struck coin (especially with dies a bit too small) would make a slight inversion the other way possible. Thoughts? This obverse curve seems to indicate that sear 2310 is indeed a stamenon, as I don't think a trachy could possibly be minted with inverted curvature (I have never seen one).[/QUOTE]
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Michael VIII Sear 2310 - On the Stamenon Denomination Attribution - Near Complete Reverse Legend
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