Zervos variation SBCV-1953

[Simon]

I read the article about this coin years ago but I had never seen one outside of the article. I recently acquired two of them on nearly the same day.

The coin is very subtle in its variation, it is the difference between Christ being depicted in a bust vs a half length figure. The article was published in Jan 2005 by Oretes Zervos . "Little known iconographic of a copper tetarteron of John II Komnenos." In the article the find was originally discovered in the American Excavations at Corinth. The article also states that the coin was almost as common find as the standard SBCV-1953 bust coin.



The top coin is the Zervos  variation, the bottom is the standard.

[Simon]

Here is the other one I acquired. Not very pretty but again half length figure.

[wileyc]

Interesting, had not appreciated that before.

cw

[Simon]

Yes, I have to admit when I first read the article it I was skeptical , however, as the years passes I realized this was a major difference in the coin.

Here is the article on research gate, you have to download it but it has a few plates too. It does not go to any detail on why the variation was created  and even though he lists it as common in the excavation I have never seen one out side the article. Finding the two in one week was rather interesting since I had been keeping my eye out for one  for almost a decade.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277014966_A_little-known_iconographic_variant_of_a_copper_tetarteron_of_John_II_Komnenos

[Kevin P]

That's really interesting, Simon.  Thanks for sharing.

I notice that the example of SBCV-1953 depicted on Wildwinds is your "standard bust" coin - contributed by you.  I have been using Wildwinds extensively for type identification, but clearly it doesn't include everything (such as variations like you are sharing here).  Is there a more complete Byzantine bronze resource out there than Wildwinds?

Kevin

[Simon]

Hi Kevin,

Wildwinds is a fantastic free resource, so is the Forum Gallery.

I am very specialized in the coins I collect, that's my nature, I create a detailed collection of a very specific subject. I do that because it is my hobby and I can only spend so much time doing it. So I am always seeking out new information mostly from a handful academic writers and researchers. This coin is just an example of that work.

 I would say nothing beats the DOC Catalogs but those catalogs were published some time ago ( EG DOC IV in 1999) but new information about Byzantine coins is always coming to light. The best way to find out about that is reading from the academic sites. The only real way to do that is find out who is currently writing about specific time period that you’re interested in.

Strangely enough, the coin world acts separate from Academic world when it comes to information, that’s because not all coin collectors or dealers are interested in all the details or the most current findings. And most academics are not happy with coin collectors, they feel they are be denied coins they want to study, so there is a split in the two groups and occasionally several of us try to bridge that. Some collectors love coins just for their art and there is nothing wrong with that and some of us want to fill in the missing history, there is nothing wrong with that either.

If you have not set yourself on a time period for Byzantine coins I suggest you read Wayne Sayles book on Byzantine coins, it is very basic but it nicely covers 1000 years in a lighthearted way. Sears book is a must because it is how most collectors communicate about their holdings. I know you can get that through Forum. As you do get specialized add a DOC volume or two into your library. You can take it as far as your curiosity needs.

Simon

[Chrismon]

Fascinating and beautiful coin Simon (I especially love the Christ bust!), congratulations on this great new addition to your collection. Is this variant possibly from a different mint?

[Simon]

I don't think so, these coins more than likely are what Dr Zervos said one type produced  followed by the other. What came first would be impossible to say, most tetartera are found as stray finds from everyday usage so no hoard finds to help date them.

Johns Father Alexius who started the coin reform had created the coinage with a bit of chaos, copper shortage resulting in overstrikes, multiple types, multiple weights for the same coin, his son seemed to take the coinage and took steps to further regulate the denomination.  He kept it very simple, consistent weights, with only a few types and two variations of those types seem to appear, (This variation and another with a different reverse.)  The only other variation in his coinage was a higher silver content than in both his billion tetartera and Trachea.

So this variation I think was either a mis instruction to the mint or a planned variation he had changed for some unknown reason. The issue contained no silver so maybe it’s a weight change, however I do not have enough data to say on the two types to say that for certain.

[Chrismon]

Thanks for this Simon, very interesting, and congrats once again.