My first Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine if you must) coin for the year

TRACHY (I think that is Latin for "Baby Tureen") ?


BZ Manuel I Comnenus 1143-1180 CE Aspron Trachy 35mm 4g Christ Gospels Labaran globus cruciger Virgin maphorium SB 1966 scyphate

 

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Nice coin! The reverse looks great

 

@Alegandron, this is fun enough that it needs to be public-access knowledge. Among eastern Medieval coins, the dirham, Armenian tram, and trachy are all cognates of the drachm. The Cilician Armenian trams, from the late 12th century, follow the module of contemporary Ayyubid, etc. dirhams. ...Which (the module) is shortly followed by the Venetian grosso. So you get this contemporaneous range of similarity and difference, between the modules and the names of the denominations.

 

@The Trachy Enjoyer, Welcome! We need all the Medievals folk here we can get. And as you will have noticed, there are people here who are Deep into trachea.

 

I love to see it! I am a trachy connoisseur myself and sadly these little coins don't get the attention they deserve!

 

Absolutely lovely! This type is on my list of "must haves" and quite the exceptional piece for the era

 

...I only have a couple of representative examples. But other members here are into this at a comparable level of depth to yours.

 

Oh, I thought it meant Trachea...

 

...Sorry, that's just the lamented, formal plural of 'trachy'.

 

Indeed, it is no simple matter to divide Roman or Eastern Roman from Byzantine, and many very serious experts decline the term Byzantine in favor of Eastern Roman. Others (e.g., John Julius Norwich) divide it with Constantine I's founding of Constantinople.

Personally, I tend to use Byzantine just as a matter of convenience, following the numismatic convention that is as much stylistic as anything else. For late Roman emperors through Justinian I, I will often catalog them under both labels (which is what they are, labels we've applied centuries later, not categories they themselves would've recognized).

Returning to the "jaggedy" flan theme, here's one that I don't think has appeared yet. My Andronicus II "Walls of Constantinople" AV Hyperpyron.



Andronicus II Palaeologus (1282-1328), with Andronicus III, AV Hyperpyron (2.73g, 26mm, 6h). Constantinople mint, 1325 – 1328.
Obverse: Half-figure of the Virgin orans within the walls of Constantinople, reinforced with four sets of castles towers at 12h, 3h, 6h, 9h. Constantinople sigla (14), triangle (trefoil) of pellets/K - triangle (trefoil) of pellets/X.
Reverse: ANΔINI(ANΔPONIC)- ANΔIN / IC - XC. Christ standing facing, crowning Andronicus II and Andronicus III kneeling to either side.
Reference: SB 2461 (CNG 109-279/455-462; 161-305; 94-1551; Bendall PCPC 185: sigla 13-14 ( \/K and \/X [Cf. CNG 75-99]).
Pedigree: Ex-Agora Auctions Auction 36, Lot 249 (14 July 2015); Ex-Spartan Numismatics, Ex-Neubecker Collection (* if anyone should happen to know who the Neubecker was from the Pegasi/Agora auctions, I would love more info!)

 

Coolly late example, @Curtis. And Yep, you're spot on; the operant terminology is mainly for the convenience of moderns; as such --at serious risk of redundancy-- inexorably revisionist. ...After enough of this, it's more like, as long as you know what was happening where, when, the labels are just that --labels.

 

The separation of the empires is a modern concept ( last 200 years most commonly) , the last of the coinage used by the empire stated in the legend, King of the Romans.
I use the term Byzantine to categorize the coins, however since the people who lived in Constantinople called themselves Romans, I don't feel right taking that away from them.

Here is a rare John II , the catalogs do not note it as being rare, but try to find one, the emperor has a Globus Cruciger in his hand.

SBCV-1943