| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61386 | Auction date: 21 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 24244 Price realized: 850 USD (Approx. 798 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients John VIII Palaeologus (AD 1421/5-1448). AR stavraton (23mm, 7.05 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 3/5. Constantinople. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, book of Gospels in left hand; IC-XC across fields, pellets within double border around / + IΩANHC ΔECΠOTIC O ΠΑΛЄΟΛΟΓOC / ΘV XAPITI AVTOKPATOP, nimbate bust of John VIII facing, crowned and wearing loros; pellet in left and right fields. Sear 2564 (AR half-hyperpyron). Ex Economopoulos Numismatics, private sale with old dealer's tag included. The long reign of the penultimate Byzantine emperor was spent desperately pleading with Western leaders to help Byzantium from the Turkish threat. John sent messengers to the Council of Florence in 1439 in hopes of reuniting the Orthodox Church with Rome, but this move towards conciliation was adamantly rejected by the population, who refused to forgive the Latins for the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. The major western powers of England, France, Castille, and the Holy Roman Empire refused to act, leaving Constantinople to the mercy of the Ottomans. The only material aid came from Europe's eastern nations - in 1444, the armies of Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia marched towards Constantinople in the last crusade of the Middle Ages. The two armies met at Varna in Bulgaria on November 10; it was a decisive victory for the Turks, who inflicted heavy losses on the Europeans and killed the brave 20-year old king of Poland Wladyslaw III, who died leading his men in a charge directly towards the Sultan. With the defeat of the final crusade at Varna, Byzantium's fate was all but sealed. John VIII died four years later in 1448, and the capital finally fell in 1453. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/byzantine/ancients-john-viii-palaeologus-ad-1421-5-1448-ar-stavraton-23mm-705-gm-6h-ngc-choice-au-4-5-3-5/a/61386-24244.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61386-04212024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
