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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
150, Lot: 284. Estimate $300.
Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantine IX Monomachus. 1042-1055. AR Miliaresion (scyphate) (28mm, 2.74 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. Virgin Mary, orans standing facing on footstool / Constantine, crowned and in military outfit, standing facing, holding long cross and sheathed sword set on ground; crown topped with cross. DOC III 7b; SB 1834. VF, field marks, a little wavy.



The military type is unsuited for the unwarlike Constantine, but the legend "O Lady, protect the pious Monomachos" certainly reflects the atmosphere of crisis during his reign, during which Constantine had to face several rebellions. The miliaresion is found in two sizes, of which this is the larger. 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