I have a
follis with an
obverse that corresponds to Sear# 1878 of
Michael VII (1071-78) and a
reverse that corresponds to S# 1866 of
Romanus IV (1068-71). See attached image. I was surprised to find that this coin is neither listed in Sear's
catalogue,
nor in the
Wildwinds database.
Here's my own analysis of the coin. The names of the emperors occur in both cases on the
reverse of the coins (although in the case of S# 1866, the emperor's name is only indicated with the letter 'Ρ', which is believed to stand for Ρωμανον). Because of this, the
obverse could change at any time, independently of any dynastic succession. The
obverse type that is normally associated with
Michael VII would then actually have been introduced late in Romanus IV's reign and continued during Michael VII's reign. During Romanus IV's reign this
obverse type would have been paired with the S# 1866
reverse type (which explains the existence of my coin) and during Michael VII's reign it would be paired with the S# 1878
reverse type, resulting in S# 1878. If this analysis is correct, my
type would be a transitional
type between S# 1866 and S# 1878, but from the time of
Romanus IV.
An alternative - less flattering - explanation would be that the
mint simply made a mistake and used a
Romanus IV reverse die during Michael VII's reign.
Note that my coin is
overstruck. There's a vestigial "NI" to the right of the emperor's
head from the underlying design.
I would like to know if my
type is listed in any
catalogue, and in case it is, if the
catalogue agrees that it's from the time of
Romanus IV. Thank you!