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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Only a Poor Old Man, post: 5006202, member: 111037&quot;]What a day today... Started a bit nasty as I am having ongoing noise issues with a neighbor, but the arrival of not one, but 2 coins, has certainly brightened up things considerably. The first one was a comfort purchase of a class A2 Byzantine follis which I conveniently presented in [USER=41219]@furryfrog02[/USER] &#039;s recent thread, and the second one was a long planned purchase of a Byzantine cup-shaped coin. I always wanted one of those, as the shape alone is quite unusual. Also it represents a part of history where things had started going downhill for the Byzantine empire (but was nevertheless still quite fascinating). Another characteristic of these coins is that they were debased (mixed with silver) and slowly over the years the amount of gold was reduced to zero as things got progressively worse for the Byzantine economy. Luckily, mine is a relatively early one and it still contains 16 carats of gold. It is a histamenon from the reign of Michael VII Dukas.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1201220[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>So why did they make these coins like that? Nobody knows for sure. Many theories have been brought forward and there was an interesting article in Coin Week a few years back where they go into more detail. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://coinweek.com/education/byzantine-coins-become-cup-shaped/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coinweek.com/education/byzantine-coins-become-cup-shaped/" rel="nofollow">https://coinweek.com/education/byzantine-coins-become-cup-shaped/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I believe that the most likely explanation is that they simply wanted a way to make sure that the coins did not bend or break easily. Since the transformation of the solidi to the histamenon variety which were wider and thinner, bent coins were a common problem. There were some additional advantages to introducing cup coins like the increased difficulty in making fakes which was quite a bonus. However the one unfortunate characteristic that got stuck to these coins throughout their use was their debasement. Byzantine gold coins used to be the dollars of their day. Their weight and strong purity remained constant for hundreds of years. These debased cup coins did great damage to this reputation and the fact that they even looked different made things even worse. To understand a bit more about how it all got to this, let&#039;s have a quick look at the history of Michael VII Dukas and his predecessors.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1201222[/ATTACH] </p><p>Constantine Monomachos (Wikimedia Commons)</p><p><br /></p><p>The fist debasement started during the reign of Nicephoros II Phokas, but became quite permanent in the times of Constantine IX Monomachos where the gold content was down to 90%. He was a big spender even though he reigned during troubled times with enemies attacking the empire from all sides. He is more known of course as the emperor that ruled during the unfortunate final schism of the Orthodox and Catholic faiths in 1054. Further unfortunate events followed with most prominent the Byzantine defeat at the battle of Manzikert. That was the event that put Michael VII Dukas firmly on the throne. He was born around 1050 to Constantine X Dukas. He could have become sole king at the age of 17 when his father died, but he wasn&#039;t interested in politics so his mother became the regent with the aid of John Dukas and later her new husband Romanos IV Diogenes. The defeat to the Turks brought Michael in power, but he was still indifferent to being an effective ruler, relying completely on corrupted ministers and courtiers while he was busy pursuing the good life and his academic interests. The army was also in a mess, and around 1073 the mercenaries revolted and Michael resorted to recognizing the Turkish presence in Asia Minor and even requesting their help. That dealt a huge blow to the economy and the gold content of the histamena coins was now down to 70-75%. This earned Michael the nickname Παραπινακης (minus a quarter) that reflected the devaluation the coins and the dissatisfaction that this caused to the populace. Eventually in 1078 Michael had to resign and retire to a monastery. Quite an excellent fate if you ask me, considering that other emperors of that period weren&#039;t that lucky. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1201223[/ATTACH] </p><p>Michael VII Dukas - Detail from the Hungarian Crown (Wikimedia Commons)</p><p><br /></p><p>Show me your cup-shaped coins, or your devalued or electrum coins in general <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>There is also a question I hope someone can answer. There appears to be some Arab graffiti on the reverse, something which actually is not that unusual for coins of that period. Anyone has any idea of what it says?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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