This is the smallest
tetarteron described in the catalogs.
The coin is a half
tetarteron of
Isaac II Angelus, It is a coin I have sought after, to the point, I questioned if it existed as an official issue.
The coin is described
Sear Byzantine coins and their Values and in CLBC, also
Doc, each gave it a different description, but one thing was in common, the coin was very small. In CLBC they listed the die
diameter at 11mm.
The only main difference in
SBCV and CLBC is description of the Archangels
inscription. In CLBC it is AP on R and M on left. In Sears
catalog he says it is identical the full
tetarteron O/X/AP on l. and X/MI on r.
Now for other examples, there is only one example on the internet. That example is in
Forums Ancient Coins prior sales, it is in better condition but of a cruder imagery than mine and the die sizes do not appear to be uniform, but it seems to match the example in
DOC except for the
legend.
The coin was produced under the rule of Isaac II, 1185-1195 CE,
his family lead to the destruction of the empire at the
hands of the
crusaders.
He was a follower of the Cult of the Archangel Michael, the tetartera from
Thessalonica was of two
types, a full
tetarteron and a coin called its half, both depicted the Archangel as an
obverse.
His full
tetarteron was sized at around 20mm (die size 18mm) but the half listed in
Sear and CLBC only at 15mm or less down to 11mm. the size in Morrison is 11mm and
Grierson does not include the coin in
his catalog nor does
Sommer.
The
weight listed in CLBC says from 1.17 to 1.8 gm.
My
hunt for an example stretches over twenty years, I missed out on the
Forum offering, I did not see it until it was already sold.In my years of searching I did acquire what I believed to be an example that was
overstruck on a Manuel St George half
tetarteron but that never felt satisfying because I was not certain, it
had more elements of Manuel than of Isaac II.
This example was recently purchased as a misattributed coin,listed as a
John II. The seller gave
weight but not size, I reconfirmed the
weight with the seller and took a chance that is was perhaps the unicorn I was looking for. The
weight is 1.7gm, the size with the unstruck portion of the
flan looked right.
Well coin in hand now, It is 15.5 mm and the
weight is at 1.7gm. The die on the
obverse is clearly the small size I have been looking for, 11mm , It differes from the example shown in
DOC , that seems to resemble the same coin
Forum sold , my example matches the brief description noted in
SBCV, very simple saying it is the same as the larger version. In my example you can see an excellent
portrait of the Archangel Michael and the legends tightly running in the small
field. The
reverse is is mangled but you can
still see Isaac II with partial name showing on the left.
The description in
SBCV was either very basic or it was based on dealer observations, the
catalog was written before
DOC was published. Michael
Hendy did not have it listed in
his 1969
work Coinage and
Money.
So now I have added a very satisfying example of a
rare tetarteron, my white whale.
Bellow is a close up of my new example and then a comparison of the full tetarteron and its baby brother. (Both coins are in scale to each other)