Andronikos II inherited an empire already financially gutted by his father Michael VIII's ruinous expenditure on western diplomacy and military campaigns. One of his first acts was to disband the Byzantine navy — a decision that saved short-term treasury costs and proved catastrophic within a generation. These copper trachea from his early reign circulated in an economy so debased that the hyperpyron, once the gold standard of Mediterranean commerce, had become nearly worthless in international exchange.
The scyphate fabric grew increasingly irregular as the 13th century wore on, and specimens from Constantinople's mint in this period frequently show off-center strikes and uneven cup depth.
Andronikos II inherited an empire already financially gutted by his father Michael VIII's ruinous expenditure on western diplomacy and military campaigns. One of his first acts was to disband the Byzantine navy — a decision that saved short-term treasury costs and proved catastrophic within a generation. These copper trachea from his early reign circulated in an economy so debased that the hyperpyron, once the gold standard of Mediterranean commerce, had become nearly worthless in international exchange.
The scyphate fabric grew increasingly irregular as the 13th century wore on, and specimens from Constantinople's mint in this period frequently show off-center strikes and uneven cup depth.