Catalog
Trachy - Andronikos III Palaiologos
| Issuer | Byzantine Empire (Byzantine states) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Thickness | 0.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | The Theotokos (Virgin Mary) depicted full-length, standing facing in orans posture with both arms raised and hands open in prayer. The figure is rendered in the hieratic Byzantine style with finely draped robes. Four stars are disposed symmetrically in the field around the central figure, serving as devotional decorative elements characteristic of late Palaiologan coinage. |
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| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Andronikos III claimed the throne after a prolonged civil war against his own grandfather, Andronikos II, a conflict that gutted Byzantine finances and left the mint producing debased, irregular coinage of diminishing weight and consistency. By his reign the trachy had collapsed so far from its 11th-century billon origins that copper issues like this one were essentially fiduciary tokens rather than intrinsically valued money. BCV 2484 specimens routinely show off-center strikes and irregular flans — a direct consequence of the manual production conditions at Constantinople during a period of severe institutional deterioration.