Does anyone have a recollection of an imitation of
Manuel I Comnenus SBCV- 1980?
Imitated coinage of tetartera tends to limited to the more simplistic in
style images such as
Manuel I SBCV-1979 and SBCV-1979 and Alexius SBCV-1931 and SBCV-1932 .
This coin has an added complexity to it because of mismatched dies, obv at 14mm and rev at 11mm and although worn on both sides more detail is apparent in the
obv. More than I would expect on an imitation. The rev is so small very little detail seems to have been included in the original die. The
weight is normal at 2gm, most imitations tend to be lightweight, but not all. The coin size is 17.55mm
This coin is an oxymoron, on one
side it could pass for the legit issue and on the other as an imitation. Could the coin be mismatched dies on a legitimate issue? The coins in the rulers following Andronicus and Isaac II
had three sized dies 12,15,17mm (The 12 and the 15mm are confused as one coin in all the catalogs.) Could the same be true for Manuel? If so, why is the smallest coin not ever noted? I personally have not seen a small die Manuel but until I thought about this coin I was not looking for one.
Right now, I must look at this as an uncommon imitation, poorly crafted. Unless anyone who has any additional information or evidence to prove a smaller version of
SBCV 1980 existed or if I incorrectly attributed the coin.
