My best seal in my collection

[Istinpolin]

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share with you my favorite PB Seal from my collection. I am very proud and happy to have it and yet have to find a second one.

Full description is:

Byzantine, Imperial PB Seal, Michael IX Palaeologus (1277-1320), ruled with this father Andronicus II Palaeologus (1282-1328) between 1295 - 1320.
28.46 gr, 35 mm

Obverse: I[ΗCΟΥ]C (Jesus) X[ΡΙCΤΟ]C (Christ), Jesus Christ on throne, holding closed book of gospel.

Reverse: ΜΙ[ΧΑΗΛ] (Michael) ΕΝ Χ[ΡΙCT]W (Christi Gratia) ΠΙCΤΟC (Pius) ΔΕCΠΟΤ[ΗΣ] (Despot) ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΟΓΟC (Palaeologi), vice-emperor, in his official dress, standing, holding cross and akakia.

Best wishes,
Burak

[pogh_poor]

It is a very handsome seal and well struck Pogh_poor

[Joe Sermarini]

Very nice seal, and for me what makes it especially nice is having the identification and translations.

[pogh_poor]

This 11th Century seal is the one that I consider to be the best both because of its specific link to a fully identified Byzantine and its match to a specific boulloterion (in Vienna (ed. BBÖ II, no. 43, Laurent, Corpus II no. 845).  
The seal reads

Depicting the the Hodegetria  Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. / Θεοτόκε βοήθει Κωνσταντίνῳ ἀνθυπάτῳ πατρικίῳ ὑπάτῳ κριτῇ τοῦ βήλου τῷ ᾿Ανζᾷ

Mother of God. / Theotokos aid Konstantinos Anzas, anthypatos patrikios hypatos krites of the velon.  

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium states that the Anzas "(᾽Ανζα̑ς, ᾽Αντζα̑ς), were a family of civil functionaries. Their origins, which are unclear, are variously described: Zlatarski ( Ist. 2:554) considered Ivan Anzas (Ančo, his transliteration) a Bulgarian name; S. Rudberg ( Études sur la tradition manuscrite de saint Basile [Lund 1953 ] 149f) thought it Italian. The first of them, John Anzas , assisted Theodoulos , archbishop of Bulgaria, in building the Church of Hagia Sophia in Ohrid in 1056 . The family was active in administration in the second half of the 11th C..  

Pogh_poor