| 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. | |
| 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 |  |
Match 1:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61357 | Auction date: 14 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 22096 Price realized: 430 USD (Approx. 393 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Manuel I Comnenus (AD 1143-1180). EL aspron trachy (32mm, 4.38 gm, 6h). NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. Constantinople, AD 1160-1164. IC-XC (barred), Christ standing facing on dais, bearded, wearing nimbus cruciger with five pellets in limbs, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, book of Gospels in left; eight-pointed star to either side / M-AN-ΩHΛ-O / ΘЄ/Ο/Δ/Ω/Ρ/OC, Manuel I, bearded (on left) and St. Theodore, bearded and nimbate (on right) both standing facing, jointly holding patriarchal cross with large globus on base between them, emperor wearing crown, divitision and loros, right hand on pommel of sheathed sword on hip, saint wearing military attire with left hand on pommel of sheathed sword at hip. Sear 1959. Struck during a period of tension between the Byzantine Empire and the Western European Crusader forces, this coin is symbolic of Manuel I's desire to preserve the power and independence of the Byzantine realm from the "Latins," who the Byzantines always mistrusted and disliked. The patriarchal cross on the reverse of the coin, a major symbol of Orthodox Christianity, would have signaled Manuel's desire to protect his people, empire, and faith from the hostile Roman Catholic Crusaders, as would the depiction of St. Theodore, a popular saint in the Byzantine cultural sphere. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-manuel-i-comnenus-ad-1143-1180-el-aspron-trachy-32mm-438-gm-6h-ngc-ms-4-5-4-5/a/61357-22096.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61357-01142024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 2:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61386 | Auction date: 21 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 24225 Price realized: 180 USD (Approx. 169 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Manuel I Comnenus (AD 1143-1180). EL aspron trachy (30mm, 4.53 gm, 6h). NGC (photo-certificate) AU 4/5 - 2/5, graffiti, damage. Constantinople, AD 1160-1164. Christ standing facing on dais, bearded, wearing nimbus cruciger with five pellets in limbs, pallium, and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, book of Gospels in left; IC-XC barred across fields / M-AN-ΩHΛ-O / ΘЄ/Ο/Δ/Ω/Ρ/OC, Manuel I, bearded (on left) and St. Theodore, bearded and nimbate (on right) both standing facing, jointly holding patriarchal cross with large globus on base between them, Manuel I wearing crown, divitision and loros, right hand on pommel of sheathed sword on hip, St. Theodore wearing military attire with left hand on pommel of sheathed sword at hip. Sear 1959. Struck during a period of tension between the Byzantine Empire and the Western European Crusader forces, this coin is symbolic of Manuel I's desire to preserve the power and independence of the Byzantine realm from the "Latins," who the Byzantines always mistrusted and disliked. The patriarchal cross on the reverse of the coin, a major symbol of Orthodox Christianity, would have signaled Manuel's desire to protect his people, empire, and faith from the hostile Roman Catholic Crusaders, as would the depiction of St. Theodore, a popular saint in the Byzantine cultural sphere. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-manuel-i-comnenus-ad-1143-1180-el-aspron-trachy-30mm-453-gm-6h-ngc-photo-certificate-au-4-5-2-5/a/61386-24225.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61386-04212024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 3:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61357 | Auction date: 14 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 22095 Price realized: 320 USD (Approx. 292 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Manuel I Comnenus (AD 1143-1180). EL aspron trachy (34mm, 4.55 gm, 6h). NGC AU 5/5 - 4/5, edge crimps, brushed. Constantinople, AD 1152-1157. IC-XC (barred), Christ seated facing on backless throne, bearded, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, cradling book of Gospels on lap / MANΩHΛ-ΔECΠOTH, Manuel I (on left), bearded, standing facing, wearing crown with pendilia, divitision and loros, star patterns of beads on belt, akakia in right hand, and the Virgin (on right) nimbate, standing facing, wearing pallium and maphorium, holding patriarchal cross between them; M-Θ by head of Virgin. Sear 1958. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-manuel-i-comnenus-ad-1143-1180-el-aspron-trachy-34mm-455-gm-6h-ngc-au-5-5-4-5-edge-crimps-brush/a/61357-22095.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61357-01142024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 4:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61357 | Auction date: 14 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 22097 Price realized: 450 USD (Approx. 411 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Manuel I Comnenus (AD 1143-1180). EL aspron trachy (32mm, 4.17 gm, 5h). NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. Constantinople, AD 1160-1164. IC-XC (barred), Christ standing facing on dais, bearded, wearing nimbus cruciger with five pellets in limbs, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, book of Gospels in left; eight-pointed star to either side / M-AN-ΩHΛ-O / ΘЄ/Ο/Δ/Ω/Ρ/OC, Manuel I, bearded (on left) and St. Theodore, bearded and nimbate (on right) both standing facing, jointly holding patriarchal cross with two crosses on shaft and large globus on base between them, emperor wearing crown, divitision and loros, right hand on pommel of sheathed sword on hip, saint wearing military attire with left hand on pommel of sheathed sword at hip. Sear 1959. Ex Heritage Auctions, Auction 232215 (13 April 2022), lot 62329. Struck during a period of great tension between the Byzantine Empire and the Western European Crusader forces, this coin is symbolic of Manuel I's desire to preserve the power and independence of the Byzantine realm from the ever-threatening "Latins." The patriarchal cross on the reverse of the coin, a major symbol of Orthodox Christianity, would have signaled Manuel's desire to protect his people, empire, and faith from the hostile Roman Catholic Crusaders, as would the depiction of St. Theodore, a popular saint in the Byzantine cultural sphere. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-manuel-i-comnenus-ad-1143-1180-el-aspron-trachy-32mm-417-gm-5h-ngc-ms-4-5-4-5/a/61357-22097.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61357-01142024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 5:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61357 | Auction date: 14 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 22098 Price realized: 280 USD (Approx. 256 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Manuel I Comnenus (AD 1143-1180). EL aspron trachy (32mm, 4.08 gm, 6h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 4/5, slight bend. Constantinople. IC-XC (barred), Christ seated facing on backless throne, wearing nimbus cruciger with single pellet in each arm, pallium and colobium, right hand raised in benediction, Gospels in left hand; double border / MANVHΛ-ΔECΠO, The Virgin (on right), nimbate, standing facing, wearing pallium and maphorium, crowning with right hand emperor (on left), standing facing, wearing divitision and loros, five beads on collar, three beads on chest, four beads on stola, labarum in right hand, globus cruciger in left; M between, on right ΘV by Virgin, all in double border. Sear 1961. Ex Sincona, Auction 37 (16 May 2017), lot 490. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-manuel-i-comnenus-ad-1143-1180-el-aspron-trachy-32mm-408-gm-6h-ngc-choice-xf-4-5-4-5-slight-bend/a/61357-22098.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61357-01142024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
