Manuel I Comnenus (AD 1143-1180). EL aspron trachy (31mm, 4.62 gm, 5h). NGC MS S 5/5 - 5/5. Constantinople, AD 1160-1164. IC-XC (barred), Christ standing facing on dais, bearded, wearing nimbus cruciger with five pellets in limbs, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction, book of Gospels in left; eight-pointed star to either side / M-AN-ΩHΛ-O / ΘЄ/Ο/Δ/Ω/Ρ/OC, Manuel I, bearded (on left) and St. Theodore, bearded and nimbate (on right) both standing facing, jointly holding patriarchal cross with large globus on base between them, emperor wearing crown, divitision and loros, right hand on pommel of sheathed sword on hip, saint wearing military attire with left hand on pommel of sheathed sword at hip. Sear 1959. Subtle champagne coloring with remarkably iridescent surfaces. Wonderful eye appeal in hand. Struck during a period of tension between the Byzantine Empire and the Western European Crusader forces, this coin is symbolic of Manuel I's desire to preserve the power and independence of the Byzantine realm from the "Latins," who the Byzantines always mistrusted and disliked. The patriarchal cross on the reverse of the coin, a major symbol of Orthodox Christianity, would have signaled Manuel's desire to protect his people, empire, and faith from the hostile Roman Catholic Crusaders, as would the depiction of St. Theodore, a popular saint in the Byzantine cultural sphere. HID09801242017 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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