Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
AR Miliaresion - Michael I Rhangabe & Theophylactus
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire (Byzantine states) |
|---|---|
| Year | 811-813 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Second Solidus Nomisma (720-1092) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse bears a five-line inscription in bold Greek majuscule characters filling the entire field, reading +MIXA / HL S ΘЄOФV / LACTE ЄCΘ / ЬASILIS RO / MMAIOH, identifying Michael (I Rhangabe) and Theophylactus as Emperors of the Romans. The legend is arranged in horizontal lines across the coin face, with a cross preceding the first line. A finely executed dotted border encircles the inscription, and the lettering displays the characteristic mixed uncial and minuscule forms common to early ninth-century Byzantine silver coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Michael I came to power not through succession or military acclaim but through the political vacuum left by Nikephoros I's death at the Battle of Pliska in July 811 — one of the worst Byzantine defeats in centuries, in which the Bulgarian khan Krum famously had Nikephoros's skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup. Michael's co-emperor Theophylactus, his own son, was elevated immediately to shore up dynastic legitimacy that Michael himself conspicuously lacked. The reign lasted barely two years before military failures against Krum forced Michael's abdication in 813.