Histamenon Nomisma - Michael IV Saint Michael reverse

Michael IV the Paphlagonian came to power through his brother John the Orphanotrophos, who engineered his marriage to Empress Zoë after the death of Romanos III — a death widely suspected to be murder, with Michael himself implicated. Despite his origins as a money-changer's son, Michael proved a capable if sickly ruler, suffering from severe epilepsy throughout his reign. His coins were struck to the still-reliable nomisma standard before the catastrophic debasements that would hollow out Byzantine gold in the following decades.