John Komnenos Aspron Trachy with Mary & John

Born in 1087, John II Komnenos, was a Byzantine Emperor who ruled from 1118 to 1143. John II faced various challenges during his reign, including invasions by the Normans in the West and the Seljuk Turks in the East. Despite these external threats, he implemented internal reforms to strengthen the Byzantine military, economy, and administrative system. His reign marked a period of relative stability and prosperity for the Byzantine Empire, contributing to the legacy of the Komnenian dynasty. We are offering Aspron Trachy in “Fine” grade from his reign. Most have small patches of surface deposits but Why not get both!

On 6 January 1198, the Armenian Kingdom was formed when the then Prince Levon (The Lion) II was crowned as King Levon I, King of Cilician Armenia. He became known as ‘Levon the Magnificent’ due to his numerous contributions to political, military, and economic influence. His growing power made him a particularly important ally for the neighbouring crusader state of Antioch. The coinage of King Levon I set the standard for that of following Cilician rulers, comprising coins struck in silver, copper, and bronze and the odd, very rare, gold issue. On these silver Trams he is shown seated facing on an ornamented throne, holding a cross and fleur-de-lis with the legend ‘Levon King of the Armenians’ around. The reverse depicts a pair of lions standing back to back flanking a tall cross with the legend ‘By the Will of God’ in Armenian around. These are nice grade silver coins available in Extremely Fine condition, and are now over 800 years old, from a once-influential but now long-forgotten kingdom.

Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II was the sultan of the Seljuqs of Rûm from 1237 until his death in 1246. He ruled at the time of the Babai uprising and the Mongol invasion of Anatolia. He led the Seljuq army with its Christian allies at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243 and was the last of the Seljuq sultans to wield any significant power, he died a vassal of the Mongols. Between ca. 1240–1243 a series of remarkable silver dirhams were struck in Kaykhusraw’s name depicting a lion and sun. Generally, Islamic traditions forbid representations of living things so it is very unusual to find such iconography on Islamic coins. Several explanations of the lion and sun have been offered to suggest that the images represent the constellation Leo, the astrological sign of Kaykhusraw’s beloved Georgian wife Tamar or that the lion represents Kaykhusraw and the sun Tamar. Grading Good Very Fine, these are beautiful silver coins struck around 780 years ago. Limited availability and the first time we have offered these coins.