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Message:: [QUOTE="Pavlos, post: 7751391, member: 96635"]Well, I am not talking here per se about coins, but seals, more specifically: Byzantine seals. I very rarely see them placed here on the forum, but I occasionally obtain some.For several reasons: First of all, a seal is the history of an individual, it was something personal, and in that sense you can even be closer to the people who lived in the past compared to a coin (yes coins were touched by everyone but were universal)Besides that, as an Greek orthodox the iconography of course attracts me, as the seals often feature saints, and some more obscure saints as well that you normally do not hear that much about. In that sense it is actually a piece of 'religious' history as well, besides it's history of the Byzantine empire. First of all, what is a seal and what was it used for in the Byzantine empire? From simple monks to highly placed officials and emperors used lead seals to “lock” official and private correspondence and to validate or authenticate documents.Each seal was personally made and the individual reflected their image, beliefs and perspective. Many of the seals contain prayers with a wide variety of iconography, most often their name protector (such as an individual called George, would select the image of Saint George on his seal). Because of these seals we learned a lot about the many civil and military careers and their locations in the Byzantine empire. I want to show a couple of seals in my collection and explain in short what each individual was back in the times: [ATTACH=full]1327185[/ATTACH]Konstantinos, spatharokandidatos, First half 11th century. Lead Seal.Obverse: Θ / ΔI/M/H-[T]P,/OC Nimbate facing bust of Saint Demetrios, holding a spear over his right shoulder, and resting a shield on his left arm.Reverse: +KЄ RΘ, / KωNCTA / NT,N, CΠ,Θ/…KAΔΔ in four lines.Reference: Unpublished in the standard references.13.75g; 25mm The above individual, called Konstantinos, selected St. Demetrios as his protector. On the reverse we can read that he is a so called 'spatharokandidatos'. The title had many meanings during the Byzantine empire, but around that time the individual was a mid-ranking Byzantine court dignity intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs). The dignity was associated mostly with mid-level ranks, such as notarioi (notary) and lower judges. [ATTACH=full]1327187[/ATTACH]Petros, monk and kouboukleisios, 10th century. Lead SealObverse: +KЄ R' - TⲰ C Δ. Nimbate facing bust of St. Michael, wearing loros and holding a trefoil scepter in his right hand.Reverse: +ΠЄTP/[O]C MONA/[X], S KOVR૪/KΛHCI' in four lines.Reference: Unpublished in the standard references.7.80g; 19mm Our next person is Petros, he was a monk and a so called 'kouboukleisios'. It means he was besides a monk also a chamber servant chosen by the emperor, this title was intended for ecclesiastic individuals only. This humble monk on the end still had a quite big responsibility.On the obverse there is a prayer often seen on Byzantine seals "Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ", it says: 'Lord, help your servant'. [ATTACH=full]1327191[/ATTACH]Euphemios, imperial protospatharios and courtier of the imperial bedchamber guarded by God, 2nd half of 10th-1st half of 11th century. Lead Seal.Obverse: ... - T/ЄΛ, Nimbate bust of St. Pantaleon, holding medical instruments in his right hand and medicine box in his left.Reverse: +ЄVΦHM / R’A’CΠAΘ, Є/ΠI TOV ΘЄ[O/Φ]VΛAK[TOV] / [K]OIT[ⲰN,] in five lines.Reference: Unpublished in the standard references.6.21g; 27mm This individual, called Euphemios, selected the saint Pantaleon as his protector. A saint not often seen and very beautifully made on this seal! This individual must have had enough funds to hire a skilled engraver.On the reverse we can read that Mr. Euphemios was an "imperial protospatharios and courtier of the imperial bedchamber guarded by God". In other words, as an imperial protospatharios he had a very important function, he was in charge of parts of the Imperial palace and being a courtier of the imperial bedchamber it seems he most likely was in charge of that area.You might think, he was just taking care of some things in the imperial palace such as the bedchamber, but actually, this was an extreme privilege and a very high rank. Just to imagine how these persons walked around: a protospatharios wore a gold necklet (maniakion) adorned with pearls, a gold-adorned tunic, a golden collar (kloios) and a red doublet with gold facings. [ATTACH=full]1327192[/ATTACH]Konstantinos, presbyter and imperial cleric, middle 11th century. Lead Seal.Obverse: ...-ΓIO Nimbate facing bust of Saint George, holding sword hilt (?) and resting shield on his left arm.Reverse: +KЄ R,Θ, / KⲰN ΠP[R] / S RAC[IΛ,] / KΛHP/K, in five lines.Reference: Unpublished in the standard references.17.70g; 24mm Konstantinos select Saint George as his protector. He is a presbyter and imperial cleric, which kind of speaks for itself. He was a high-ranking ecclesiastic individual, and in combination of being an imperial cleric it seems he had some kind of supervising role associated with the emperor as well. An impressive and very thick seal. [ATTACH=full]1327195[/ATTACH]Pothos, ostiarios and hebdomarios, 2nd half of 10th-1st half of 11th century. Lead Seal Obverse: KЄ ... TⲰ CⲰ ... - M/I – X/A. Nimbate facing bust of St. Michael, holding scepter in his right hand and globe in his left.Reverse: +ΠOΘⲰ / [O]CTIAP, / [KA]I ЄRΔP/MAPIⲰ in four lines, decorations above and below; all within pearled border.Reference: Unpublished in the standard references.7.80g; 27mm Last but not least, we have a person called Pothos, a quite unusual name. He selected the Archangel Michael, very beautifully engraved on the seal and the wings can be clearly seen.From the reverse we can understand that he was first of al an ostiarios. The word literately means: doorkeeper, usher. He welcomed and ushered visitors in and out of the palace. This title was only reserved for eunuchs, so eventhough he was an eunuch it was still a quite high rank, it was the fourth-lowest dignity for eunuchs.He was also a Hebdomarioi, this means he was in charge of parts of the imperial palace as well. If you want to learn more about seals, I really recommend taking a look at Dumbarton Oaks, they have a wonderful collection of 17.000 seals. Does anyone here collect Byzantine seals as well? If so, please share! And I hope everyone who read this thread learned something new about this piece of history.[/QUOTE]

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