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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Byzantine Coins| ▸ |Comnen Dynasty| ▸ |Alexius I||View Options:  |  |  | 

Alexius I Comnenus, 4 April 1081 - 15 August 1118 A.D.

Joint rule with John II (his eldest son), 1092 - 15 August 1118 A.D.
Alexius I, Comnenus got help from the Venetians early in his reign, and succeeded in putting an end to the Norman threat. Alexius was responsible for a fair amount of reconstruction of the Byzantine Empire. He also brought about monetary reform in 1092. This was made necessary by the trade concessions made to the Venetians in return for their help with the Normans. His wife, Irene Dukaina, is also represented on his coinage. Alexius established a mint at Thessalonica, where his rival Nicephorus had minted coins before Alexius defeated him. This mint supplied "coin of the realm" to the Balkans. Alexius I was succeeded by his son and co-emperor, John II.
Byzantium Empire 1081 AD

|Alexius| |I|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Alexius| |I| |Comnenus,| |4| |April| |1081| |-| |15| |August| |1118| |A.D.||hyperpyron|
Similar types were struck at Constantinople and Thessalonica and are often carelessly misattributed to the wrong mint. Distinguishing the mint is actually quite easy. On coins struck at Constantinople the emperor's chlamys (cloak) has jewels (round pellets) on the bottom edge. On specimens of this type struck at Thessalonica, such as this coin, the jewels ornament the edges on the sides of the chlamys, but not on the bottom.
SH97094. Gold hyperpyron, DOC IV-1 20; Hendy p. 83, var. III; cf. Sommer 59.23; CLBC 2.1.3j; Grierson 1048; SBCV 1924, gVF, scyphate flan, well centered, flow lines, a few scratches on obverse, weight 4.294 g, maximum diameter 29.5 mm, die axis 180o, Thessalonica (Salonika, Greece) mint, post reform, 1092 - 1118 A.D.; obverse  KE RO-HΘEI (Lord, help [Alexius]), IC - XC (Greek abbreviation: Ihsoús Xristós - Jesus Christ), Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium, and colobium, raising right in benediction, gospels in left, double border; reverse A/ΛE/ΞI/W / ΔEC/ Π/T - TW / KO/MNH/N/W (MNH ligate), Alexius standing facing, wearing chlamys, four jewels on collar, no jewels on the bottom of the chlamys, curved diagonal fold in chlamys under his left arm, labarum scepter in right hand, globus cruciger in left hand, manus Dei (hand of God) above right; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 92 (2 Aug 2020), lot 992; SOLD


|Alexius| |I|, |Byzantine| |Empire,| |Alexius| |I| |Comnenus,| |4| |April| |1081| |-| |15| |August| |1118| |A.D.||hyperpyron|
Although he was not the founder of the Comnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Comnenus family came to full power. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexius was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Comnenian restoration.
SH94415. Gold hyperpyron, DOC IV-1 20g; Hendy pl. 4, 3-5; CLBC 2.1.2; Morrisson BnF 59/Cp/Av/3; Wroth BMC 7; Ratto 2059; SBCV 1913, Choice gVF, scyphate, beautiful luster, weight 4.348 g, maximum diameter 31.0 mm, die axis 180o, Philippopolis mint, 1092 - 1118 A.D.; obverse KE RO-HΘEI (Lord, help [Alexius]), Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium, and colobium, raising right in benediction, gospels in left hand, IC - XC (Greek abbreviation: Jesus Christ) high across field, double border; reverse A/ΛE/ΞI/W / ΔEC/ΠO/TH - Tw / KO/MNH/Nw, Alexius standing facing, wearing chlamys, five jewels on collar, labarum scepter in right hand, globus cruciger in left hand, manus Dei (hand of God) above right, six pellets in loros end; from the Robert Watcher Collection; ex Goldberg Coins, New York Sale XLII (9 Jan 2018), lot 483; SOLD


Byzantine Anonymous Follis of Christ, Class J, Alexius I Comnenus, 4 April 1081 - 15 August 1118 A.D.

|Anonymous| |Folles|, |Byzantine| |Anonymous| |Follis| |of| |Christ,| |Class| |J,| |Alexius| |I| |Comnenus,| |4| |April| |1081| |-| |15| |August| |1118| |A.D.||anonymous| |follis|
The emperor's name and portrait are not part of the design on the Byzantine types referred to as anonymous folles. Instead of the earthly king, these coins depict Jesus Christ, King of Kings.
BZ89912. Bronze anonymous follis, Anonymous follis of Christ class J; DOC III-2 J.1; Ratto 2499; SBCV 1900, aVF, well centered on a small flan, weight 2.859 g, maximum diameter 23.29 mm, die axis 180o, Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) mint, c. 4 Apr 1081 - 1085 A.D.; obverse bust of Christ facing, without nimbus, cross behind head, wears pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, Gospels in left hand, crescents in upper fields, IC-XC in lower fields; reverse cross with globule and two pellets at each extremity, large crescent below, four globules around each surrounded by pellets; very rare; SOLD


Duchy of Durazzo (Republic of Venice), 1205 - 1213, Imitative of Byzantine, Alexius I Tetarteron, 1093 - 1118

|Greece|, |Duchy| |of| |Durazzo| |(Republic| |of| |Venice),| |1205| |-| |1213,| |Imitative| |of| |Byzantine,| |Alexius| |I| |Tetarteron,| |1093| |-| |1118||tetarteron|
The Duchy of Durazzo was a short-lived overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, encompassing the port city of Durazzo (modern Durrës in Albania) and its environs. It was established in 1205, following the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, and lasted until it was reclaimed by the Byzantine Despotate of Epirus in 1213.

The Durrës Hoard discovered in 1967, near the apse of the chapel of the amphitheater of Dyrrachion, included 862 ornamented cross-type copper coins imitative of tetartera of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. Similar types to our imitative coin. Pagona Papadopoulou studied the hoard and concluded the coins were hidden in the chapel when the forces of Michael I Comnenus Ducas, the Despot of Epirus (1204-1215) attacked and put an end to the Venetian Duchy in 1214. She also studied many other finds of the type and concluded the coins were struck by the Venetians beginning shortly before or after 1204 A.D., probably at Corinth.
Durazzo
BZ99037. Bronze tetarteron, cf. Papadopoulou type IIa, Sommer 59.26.2; Hendy pl. 8, 11; for the prototype see DOC IV-1 40 (Byzantine, Alexius I, Thessalonica, 1093 - 1118 A.D.), aEF, green patina, crude, porous, weight 1.130 g, maximum diameter 18.7 mm, die axis 0o, Corinth (Greece) or Durazzo (Durrës, Albania) mint, 1203 - 1213 A.D.; obverse crude Maltese cross fourchée with arms of equal length, no base, no X at center, globus and two pellets at the end of each arm, Φ - C / X - [?] in the angles; reverse no legend, barbarous half-length bust facing, bearded, wearing crown with pendilia and jeweled chlamys, cruciform scepter in right hand, globus cruciger with four-pellet cross in left hand, pellets left and right; from a Las Vegas dealer; rare; SOLD







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REFERENCES

Bates, G. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis: Byzantine Coins. Sardis Monograph 1. (Cambridge, 1971).
Bellinger, A. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. IV, Part 1: Alexius I to Alexius V (1081-1204). (Washington D.C., 1966).
Berk, H. Eastern Roman Successors of the Sestertius. (Chicago, 1987).
Berk, H. Roman Gold Coins of the Medieval World, 383 - 1453 A.D. (Joliet, IL, 1986).
Grierson, P. Byzantine Coins. (London, 1982).
Hendy, M. Coinage and Money in the Byzantine Empire 1081-1261. (Washington D.C., 1969).
Marchev, V. & R. Wachter. Catalogue of the Late Byzantine Coins, Vol. I, 1082 - 1261 AD. (Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, 2011).
Morrisson, C. Catalogue des Monnaies Byzantines de la Bibliothèque Nationale II, 711 - 1204. (Paris, 1970).
Papadopoulou, P. "Tétartèra d'imitation du XIIIe siècle : à propos du trésor de Durrës (Albanie)" in Revue numismatique, volume 161 (2005), pp. 145 - 162, pl. XIII - XIV.
Ratto, R. Monnaies Byzantines et d'autre Pays contemporaines à l'époque byzantine. (Lugano, 1930).
Sabatier, J. Description générale des monnaies Byzantines. (Paris, 1863).
Sear, D. Byzantine Coins and Their Values. (London, 1987).
Sommer, A. Die Münzen des Byzantinischen Reiches 491-1453. Mit einem Anhang: Die Münzen des Kaiserreichs von Trapezunt. (Regenstauf, 2010).
Tolstoi, I. Monnaies byzantines. (St. Petersburg, 1913 - 14).
Wroth, W. Catalogue of the Imperial Byzantine Coins in the British Museum. (London, 1908).

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