216, Lot: 489. Estimate $300. Sold for $410. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantine IX Monomachus. 1042-1055. AR Miliaresion (26mm, 2.15 g, 5h). Constantinople mint. The Theotokos, orans, standing facing on footstool / Constantine standing facing, wearing military attire, holding long cross and scabbard containing sword. DOC 7; SB 1834. VF, weak strike on the peripheries.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group E168, lot 295.

The legend “O Lady, protect the pious Monomachos” and the military attire of Constantine, who was quite unwarlike, reflect the atmosphere of crisis during his reign, during which emperor had to face several rebellions. The miliaresion is found in two sizes, of which this is the smaller. A hoard found at Oxarve in Sweden consisted of 100 pieces, evenly divided between the two types. Since contemporary hoards of gold show similar divisions between the histamenon and tetartron (implying that payments were acceptable in both types as long as the percentages were equal), there must also have been a recognized difference between the two silver types.