Catalog
Trachy Imitation trachy of Isaac II Angelos
| Issuer | Second Bulgarian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200-1202 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Enthroned frontal figure of Emperor Isaac II Angelos in full imperial regalia, depicted in the conventional Byzantine manner as adapted by Bulgarian imitators. The emperor is shown seated on a high-backed loros throne, holding a patriarchal cross-scepter in his right hand and an akakia or globus cruciger in his left, with garments rendered in schematic, deeply-cut relief. Above the figure, a cross or cruciform ornament is visible at the upper field. The workmanship is cruder than the Byzantine prototype, with compressed proportions and simplified drapery folds consistent with Second Bulgarian Empire imitative production of circa 1200–1202. |
| 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 | ND (1200-1202) |
| Additional information |
Isaac II Angelos was deposed, blinded, and imprisoned by his own brother Alexios III in 1195. The Bulgarian imitations of his trachy coinage began circulating shortly after, issued under Kaloyan — a ruler who had spent years extracting diplomatic recognition from Rome and Constantinople simultaneously. That these coins mimic Byzantine types so closely was deliberate: Bulgaria lacked the monetary infrastructure to assert a wholly independent numismatic identity, and Byzantine-style currency carried transactional legitimacy across the Balkans that purely Bulgarian issues would not.
Radoměrský's 1953 identification of this type remains the foundational reference; Bulgarian imitative trachea from this narrow window are genuinely scarce in Western collections.