| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61386 | Auction date: 21 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 24229 Price realized: 340 USD (Approx. 319 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients Andronicus I Comnenus (AD 1183-1185). EL aspron trachy (32mm, 4.67 gm, 6h). NGC (photo-certificate) Choice AU 4/5 - 4/5. Constantinople. + ΘΚ-Є RO-HΘЄI, The Virgin Orans standing facing on dias, nimbate and wearing pallium and maphorium, both hands raised, nimbate head of the infant Christ facing in bosom; MHP-ΘV across fields / ANΔPONIKΩ-ΔECΠOTH, Christ standing facing (on right), bearded, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, book of Gospels in left hand, right hand crowning Andronicus I (on left), wearing crown with divitision and chlamys, labarum with pellet on shaft in right hand, akakia in left; IC-XC in fields around head of Christ, cross in inner left field. Sear 1984. Exceptional detail and an enticing ruby luster. Andronicus I was the final emperor of the House of Comnenus, the dynasty that had ruled the empire since 1081. Licentious and ambitious, his ascension to the throne was due in large part to the anti-Latin sentiment in Constantinople which had been growing more popular since the First Crusade. In 1182, Andronicus's entrance into the capital was quickly followed by the so-called Massacre of the Latins, in which the ruthless slaughter of the city's Western European population was accompanied by the destruction of the Latin Quarter. Upon officially becoming emperor a year later, Andronicus attempted to control the now nearly unchecked powers of the aristocracy--a critical but ultimately unsuccessful endeavor. In September 1185, with a large Norman army invading the Balkans, Andronicus was brutally overthrown and subjected to unimaginable suffering, as the Constantinople mob savagely beat him, cut off his limbs, and poured boiling water in his face, eventually completely dismembering his body, which was not given a proper burial for many years. Despite his horrific death, Andronicus' reign saw the last real attempt to check the power of the nominally loyal "feudal" lords that by 1185 were the real authority in much of Byzantine territory. The alienation of the Venetian merchants and diplomats of Constantinople (who had previously held a advantageous position in the Byzantine Empire) under Andronicus' reign would prove fateful for the Byzantine Empire, as it would go on to spiral into near oblivion only a generation later when Venice's doge Enrico Dandolo--who had visited Constantinople during the Massacre of the Latins--led the Fourth Crusade's burning and looting of the capital city of Constantinople in 1203-1204. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-andronicus-i-comnenus-ad-1183-1185-el-aspron-trachy-32mm-467-gm-6h-ngc-photo-certificate-choice-a/a/61386-24229.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61386-04212024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
