★ A highly interesting countermarked hyperpyron of John III ★

John III Ducas (Vatatzes), emperor of Nicaea, 1222-1254. Hyperpyron (Gold, 22 mm, 4.21 g, 6 h), Magnesia. IC - XC Christ, nimbate, seated facing on throne, wearing tunic and pallium, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left; in field to left and right, IC - XC. Rev. John III standing facing on the left, wearing divitision and loros, holding anexikakia in his left hand and labarum in his right, crowned by the Virgin Mary, nimbate, standing facing on the right; on the heads of John and the Virgin, two countermarks, each showing an imperial head facing, bearded and wearing crown with pendilia. DOC -, cf. 6 (for undertype). Lianta -, cf. (for undertype). SB -, cf. 2073 (for undertype). Apparently unique and of great interest. Graffito of X on the reverse, otherwise, very fine.

From a European collection, formed before 2005.

On this highly unusual hyperpyron of John III Ducas, the heads of the emperor and the Virgin Mary have been overstruck with two countermarks, both showing the head of an emperor. The identity of this ruler remains unclear. The pendilia suggest imperial rank, which, besides a Byzantine ruler, could only point to the Bulgarian tsar. This leads one to think of Ivan Asen II, who, after the Battle of Klokotnitsa around 1230, controlled large parts of the Balkans and styled himself as the legitimate successor to the Byzantines. However, why the countermarks were applied to a coin of John III, with whom Ivan was allied, and why the Virgin Mary was also overstruck, remains a mystery.