Byzantine or Latin

CNG 97, Lot: 809. Estimate $1000.

John III Ducas (Vatatzes). Emperor of Nicaea, 1222-1254. AV Hyperpyron (27mm, 4.17 g, 6h). Magnesia mint. Struck circa 1232-1254(?). Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing; cross of four pellets to right above throne / John standing facing, holding labarum and akakia, being crowned by the Virgin Mary. DOC 9f; SB 2073. VF, graffiti and a few scratches in margins.

Despite a number of hoards, the study of the hyperpyra of John III remains a tricky subject, with matters of chronology and even mints still unresolved (see Künker 216, lot 1532 for a presentation of the present type with four pellets where he assigns the issue to Balduin II von Courtenay [1240-1261]). The 14th century Florentine merchant Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, in his Practica della meratura, may shed some light on this issue. He describes Latin and common gold perperi, with the former presumably being struck by the Latins of Constantinople or Greece and the latter official Nicaean issues, and goes on to discuss some of the sigla from John III to Andronicus II (including the cross of four pellets as on our coin, which he gives to the Latins) as well as differences in alloy. DOC (pp. 475-6) cautions against relying too much on Pegolotti’s text, noting disparate results in modern alloy tests, and concludes that “...Pegolotti’s material, while inevitably of interest as near contemporary, nevertheless involves very approximate estimates only, and in its apparent precision may well involve little or nothing more than ‘market wisdom.’”

Current Status

CNG 97, Lot: 809.
Closing Date And Time: Sep 17, 2014 at 1:29:40 PM ET.
Current Date And Time: May 02, 2024 at 9:56:55 AM ET.
Currently: No Bids. Bidders (0).