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| Name: |
Venice - Italy, Giovanni Soranzo (1311-1327 A.D.), AR grosso matapan (20 mm, 2.06 gr.) Christ Enthroned aVF |
| Description: |
Venice - Italy, Giovanni Soranzo (1311-1327 A.D.), AR grosso matapan (20 mm, 2.06 gr.)
Christ Enthroned aVF
Obv: IO SVPANTIO SM VENETI DVX, Doge (governor) stands facing
receiving banner from patron saint St. Mark; the word DVX is to the immediate right of
doge and it is going down vertically along with the banner. Rev: facing figure of Nimbate
Jesus Christ Pantocrator, enthroned, IC XC field to the left and right. Rosette by left
elbow. Toned! Should be cleaned.
From an old collection assembled in Vienna in 20s!!!
Detailed description obverse/reverse:
Obverse: The bare-headed ruler with a beard and
moustache is dressed in a robe decorated with precious gems or pearls in two vertical
rows, holding in his left hand a scroll (akakia) and with his right hand he receives a
banner from St. Mark. The saint with beard and moustache and a granulated nimbus
encircling his head, dressed in usual sticharia and a short mantle, holds in his left hand
on his chest the Gospels decorated with five gems, and with his right hand extends a royal
standard - banner.
Reverse: Christ with a granulated nimbus encircling his head in the
usual robe (hiton) and mantle (himation) is seated on a throne with a high back support.
With both hands he holds on his left knee the Gospels ornamented with five precious
stones. Initials IC-XC at the height of his head.
More information about this type of
coins:
The central design on this coin's obverse features the facing figure of Christ
Pantocrator (Christ enthroned as ruler of all), a motif copied from Byzantine coinage and
maintained to this day in Russian Orthodox art. Christ's hair is long with a center
parting. He has a beard and a mustache and is enthroned on a broad, square-backed,
upholstered seat which has a frame embellished with patterns of pellets. He wears a tunic
(simple slip-on garment belted at the waist) and himation (rectangular cloth draped over
the left shoulder and about the body) and has a voided cross nimbus (outlined cross within
a halo) behind his head. His right hand rests in the fold of his vestment, and his left
hand supports a book of the gospel (the ornamented reliquary cover of which has a pattern
of five pellets). His right leg is inclined to the left and his feet are bare. He is
flanked by the legend IC -- XC (Greek abbreviation for Jesus Christ). In all of these
details, this coin copies Byzantine gold histamenons minted in Constantinople two
centuries previously. On the reverse is the doge (duke in English, dux in Latin) stands
facing with Saint Mark, the patron of Venice. They grasp a pole between them, at the top
of which flies a banner displaying a cross. Both have beards and mustaches. The locks of
doges shoulder-length hair cover his ears. He wears a loros (a richly ornamented robe) and
holds an akakia (a short cylinder with jeweled ends and containing dust, first carried by
Byzantine rulers in public processions and intended to remind the ruler that even he was
mortal). Pellets on Saint Mark's right breast form a cross, and he is holding a book of
the gospel. A halo frames his head, and his hair is cropped above his ears and shaved on
top of his head in a monk's tonsure.
NUMISMATIC NOTES: Introduced around 1202 (to fund
preparations for the grand and infamous Fourth Crusade that eventually sacked
Constantinople) by the mighty doge Enrico Dandolo and backed by the Republic's thriving
economic power, this type of coin remained for well over a century the DOLLAR of
Southeastern European economy. Although almost all of its design elements are of Byzantine
origin - including the iconic image of a facing enthroned Christ with the Greek
inscription "IC XC" (for Jesus Christ) on its reverse - their particular
combination in this silver coin of stable and strictly controlled weight and purity lasted
for over 150 years (with variations in doge only) and became associated strictly with
Venice. As such, through imitations and forgeries, it influenced many Eastern
Mediterranean coinages, including the first systematic series of Serbian medieval coins. |
| Price: |
US$ 75.00 (2007-04-24) |
| Original page: |
http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/ane/store/
viewItem.asp?idProduct=419
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