OK, an example. Today I uploaded two consigned coins of the
Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Stratsimir. I spent almost an hour reading about the
history of the Second
Bulgarian Empire and Ivan Stratsimir. Here is the listing info and RSI I added for the coins...
Lot of 2 Groshes, Tsardom of Vidin, Bulgaria, Ivan Stratsimir, 1356 - 1396ME55654. Silver lot, Lot of 2 Silver Groshes,
cf. Radushev - Zhekov 1.14.1 ff.,
aVF,
weight c. 0.6g, maximum
diameter c. 16mm,
obverse Cyrillic
legend, half-length
nimbate bust of
Christ facing, right hand raised in
benediction, Gospels in left, flanked by IC - XC (Jesus
Christ);
reverse Cyrillic
legend, Ivan Stratsimir seated facing on throne, lis-tipped
scepter in right,
mappa in left; actual coins in the photograph; $40.00
Factional divisions between feudal landlords
had split the Second
Bulgarian Empire into three small tsardoms-Vidin, Tarnovo and Karvuna-and several semi-independent principalities. Ivan Stratsimir ruled in Vidin. In 1393
Bulgaria and the surrounding region fell to the
Ottoman Empire. Only Vidin remained free from the invading Turks, but this would not last. In 1396 Ivan Stratsimir joined the
Christian crusade organized by the Hungarian
king Sigismund. The
Christian army suffered a heavy defeat on 25 September at the battle of Nicopolis. The victorious
Ottoman sultan Bayezid I marched to Vidin and seized it by the end of 1396 or the beginning of 1397. Ivan Stratsimir was captured and imprisoned in the
Ottoman capital Bursa where he was probably strangled.
The coin inspired me to learn the
history. If it
had not been consigned to me, I likely would have never learned anything about Ivan Stratsimir.