Michael

Intro ...

(842-867)

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CONSTANTINOPLE

Michael III (842-867). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1686.

Obv: + ⲑєᴏ∂ᴏʀᴀ ∂єѕᴘᴠnᴀ or ∂єѕᴘᴠn'ᴀ or ∂єѕᴘᴠn'. Bust of Theodora facing, wearing crown and loros and holding patriarchal cross on globus, and cruciform scepter;

Rev: mıxᴀʜⳑ ꜱ ⲑᴄєⳑᴀ. Facing bust of Michael III, beardless (on left) and half-length figure of Thecla (on right), both crowned; the emperor wears chlamys and holds globus cruciger, whilst his sister wears loros and holds long patriarchal cross.

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Michael III (842-867). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1687.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτᴏs ꘎. Bust of Christ facing, with cross behind head; he has long hair and full beard, wears pallium and colobium, and raises right hand in benediction; he holds book of Gospels in left hand;

Rev: + mıxᴀʜⳑ ꜱ ⲑєᴏ∂ᴏʀᴀ. Facing busts of Michael III, beardless (on left) and Theodora (on right), both crowned; the emperor wears chlamys, whilst his mother wears loros; between their heads, cross.

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Michael III (842-867). AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. Sear 1688.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτᴏs ꘎. Bust of Christ facing, with cross behind head; he has long hair and full beard, wears pallium and colobium, and raises right hand in benediction; he holds book of Gospels in left hand;

Rev: mıxᴀʜⳑ ьᴀꜱıⳑє'. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding labarum and akakia; in field to left, cross.

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Michael III (842-867). AV Semissis. Constantinople mint. Sear 1689.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτᴏs ꘎. Bust of Christ facing, with cross behind head; he has long hair and full beard, wears pallium and colobium, and raises right hand in benediction; he holds book of Gospels in left hand;

Rev: mıxᴀʜⳑ ьᴀ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding labarum and akakia (left hand not visible ?); in field to left, cross.

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Michael III (842-867). AR Miliaresion. Constantinople mint. Sear 1690.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ. Cross potent on 3 steps; triple border;

Rev: + mıxᴀ / ʜⳑ ⲑєᴏ∂ᴏʀᴀ / ꜱ ⲑᴄєⳑᴀ єᴄ ⲑ' / ьᴀꜱıⳑıꜱ ʀᴏ / mᴀıᴏn in five lines; triple border.

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Michael III (842-867). AR Miliaresion. Constantinople mint. Sear 1691.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ. Cross potent on 3 steps; triple border;

Rev: + mıxᴀ / ʜⳑ єᴄ ⲑєч / ᴘıѕτᴏꜱ ьᴀ / ꜱıⳑєчꜱ ʀᴏ / mᴀıᴏn in five lines; triple border.

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Michael III (842-867). AR Miliaresion. Constantinople mint. Sear 1692.

Obv: ıhsчs xʀısτчs nıcᴀ. Cross potent on 3 steps, with pellet beneath steps; triple border;

Rev: + mıxᴀ / ʜⳑ ᴘıѕτᴏꜱ mєҁᴀꜱ ьᴀ / ꜱıⳑєчꜱ ʀᴏ / mᴀıᴏn in five lines; triple border.

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Michael III (842-867). Æ Follis. Constantinople mint. Sear 1693.

Obv: + mıhᴀєⳑ ıᴍᴘєʀᴀτ'. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding patriarchal cross on globus, and akakia;

Rev: + ьᴀꜱıⳑıчꜱ ʀєx ꘎. Facing bust of Basil I, bearded, wearing crown and loros, and holding patriarchal cross on globus, and akakia.

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SYRACUSE

Michael III (842-867). AV Semissis. Syracuse mint. Sear 1694. (sometimes of debased metal)

Obv: mıxᴀʜⳑ ⲑ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding patriarchal cross on globus;

Rev: mıxᴀʜⳑ ⲑ or mıxᴀʜᴧ ⲑ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding patriarchal cross on globus.

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Michael III (842-867). AV Semissis. Syracuse mint. Sear 1695.

Obv: mıxᴀʜᴧ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger;

Rev: mıxᴀʜᴧ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding globus cruciger.

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Michael III (842-867). AV Semissis. Syracuse mint. Sear 1696.

Obv: mıxᴀʜᴧ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding globus cruciger;

Rev: ьᴀᴄıᴧєıᴏᴄ. Facing bust of Basil I, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding globus cruciger.

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Michael III (842-867). AV Tremissis. Syracuse mint. Sear 1696ᴀ.

Obv: mıxᴀʜⳑ ⲑ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding patriarchal cross on globus;

Rev: mıxᴀʜⳑ ⲑ. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and loros, and holding cross potent.

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Michael III (842-867). Æ Follis. Syracuse mint. Sear 1697.

Obv: mıxᴀʜⳑ ь. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding cross potent;

Rev: Large M, cross above, ⲑ below.

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Michael III (842-867). Æ Follis. Syracuse mint. Sear 1698.

Obv: mıxᴀʜᴧ ь. Facing bust of Michael III, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding cross potent;

Rev: Large M, cross above, ⲑ below.

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CHERSON

Michael III (842-867). Æ Flat. Cherson mint. Sear 1699. (diam. approx. 13mm)

Obv: Large ᴍʙ or MB;

Rev: ⲡ̊x.

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Michael III (842-867). Æ Flat. Cherson mint. Sear 1700.

Obv: ʙᴍ;

Rev: xⲡ̊.

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Michael III (842-867). Æ Flat. Cherson mint. Sear 1701.

Obv: ⲡ;

Rev: x.

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BACKGROUND AND COINAGE

“Michael III” as Bury has aptly written, “reigned for a quarter of a century, but he never governed. During the greater part of his life he was too young; when he reached a riper age he had neither the capacity nor the desire.” He was only two years old when his father died on 20 January 842. The regency devolved, by constitutional custom, on the boy's mother Theodora, but Theophilus before his death had appointed two further regents, her uncle Manuel, the chief Magister, and Theoctistus, the Logothete του δρομου. Manuel, like other members of Theodora’s family, and in particular her highly capable brother Bardas, was kept in the background, and for fourteen years the affairs of the Empire were managed, with a high degree of competence, by Theodora and Theoctistus. Michael was a feeble character, easily dominated by others, and his minority was prolonged well beyond the time customarily allowed by Roman law. It was ended in the spring of 856 by a coup d'état organized by Bardas, who murdered Theoctistus, proclaimed that Michael would henceforward rule as sole emperor (μóνος αυτοκρατορει), and in fact seized power for himself. Theodora remained in the Palace for a further two years, but Bardas feared her influence and in 858 she was immured with her daughters in a nunnery. Eight years later Bardas, who was created Caesar in 862, was overthrown by a plot organized by Basil, an erstwhile groom who had risen by Michael's favor to the rank of High Chamberlain. Bardas was murdered on 21 April 866, and a month later, on 26 May (Whitsunday), Michael crowned Basil co-emperor. Their uneasy joint reign lasted less than a year and a half. Basil had good reason to fear his colleague's inconstancy, and had no desire to see himself supplanted by another favorite, while Michael’s own

character seems to have so far deteriorated that his continuance in office became a danger to the state. The upshot was his murder on the night of 23/24 September 867 and the accession of Basil to sole power.

The reliability of the traditional picture of Michael's character and reign has been questioned by recent scholars, since we see him almost exclusively through the eyes of writers who on personal or other grounds wished to present Basil's usurpation in a favorable light. The reaction has perhaps gone too far. Much of the material, particularly that of a personal nature, we cannot check, but Michael's political defects are apparent. Assassination as a method of replacing one minister by another was not a normal practice even in Byzantium. The successive murders of Theoctistus and Bardas find their most obvious parallels in the deaths of Stilicho and Aetius, and neither Honorius nor Valentinian I has a high reputation as a ruler.Michael’s arrangements for the succession were in the highest degree irresponsible. Theophilus promoted Alexius Musele to the rank of Caesar because he had abandoned hope of Theodora producing a male heir, a justification which Michael lacked when conferring the same rank on Bardas. More foolish still was his treatment of Basil. He created him Augustus, not simply Caesar, and then ostentatiously denied him the place on the gold and silver coinage of the capital to which as co-Augustus he could reasonably aspire. Even if we discount the story of his impulsive threat to replace him as co-emperor by Basiliskianos, this denial alone must have been a permanent reminder to Basil of the precariousness of his position and an encouragement, with a character so unscrupulous, to rid himself of the benefactor to whom he owed his fortune.

Michael, at least in form, had no children, and certainly had none by his lawful wife, but the domestic arrangements of the court were so peculiar that the parentage of the future Emperor Leo VI remains in doubt. In his early teens Michael had a love affair with a lady of beauty and character, Eudocia Ingerina, and in the hope of bringing it to an end Theodora married him, possibly in 855, to another Eudocia, of whom we know virtually nothing. When Michael escaped his mother’s tutelage he sought to “regularize” the position by inducing Basil to divorce his own wife Maria and marry Eudocia Ingerina, who thus obtained a formal position at court and in fact remained Michael’s mistress. Basil for his part was consoled by the attentions of the Empress Thecla, who had displayed no aptitude for a religious life and had re-emerged from her nunnery sometime in the late 850's. Eudocia Ingerina had two children, Constantine and Leo, born to her before Michael's death, and though they were officially Basil's sons it was generally believed that they were Michael’s. Basil’s own attitude toward them suggests that he supposed Constantine to be his own son and Leo to be Michael's, and Leo may well have thought the same thing. Such judgments would presumably have been based on personal resemblances and traits of character, matters on which contemporaries were in a better position to judge than we are. In any event, Michael’s wife Eudocia never appears on the coinage—since she had no children, she may not have been formally an Augusta— and coins showing Eudocia Ingerina belong to the reign of Basil.

Michael's coinage was struck at three mints, Constantinople, Syracuse, and Cherson. The great bulk, as usual, came from Constantinople. Syracuse continued to mint throughout the reign, and indeed was the only place to issue gold coins on which Basil was associated with Michael as co-emperor, but much of Sicily had by now been lost to the Saracens and the need for coinage was appreciably less. Cherson was added to the number of mints, a distinction which it had not enjoyed since the seventh century, but the character of its output suggests that local initiative rather than central direction was at work. Michael's coinage as a whole presents a number of unusual features. At Constantinople there are the coins of the regency, on which Michael is associated first with Theodora and Thecla, then with Theodora alone. There is the revival of a representation of Christ on the coins, which altered the whole appearance of Byzantine coins for the future. On the silver coinage there is the use of a novel title, that of μεγας βασιλεὐς. In the copper there is first the total absence of any ascertainable issues for the first twenty-four years of the reign, followed by a brief issue of folles on which Michael and Basil are given the wholly unexpected Latin titles of imperator and rex.

The coinage of the regency, as it can be loosely termed, does not quite conform to this title, It allowed no role to Theodora’s two co-regents, Manuel and Theoctistus, since they had not imperial rank. Coins associating Michael with his mother one might expect, even if the only recent precedent—the joint coinage of Irene and Constantine VI—would hardly have been reassuring. Thecla’s presence on the solidi and miliaresia of Class I is, more curious, for she seems to have had no particular role assigned to her under Theophilus’ will, and when Michael was proclaimed in the Circus in January 842, his name was associated with that of Theodora only. Moreover, although she was the eldest daughter, her title of Augusta was one that she probably shared with her younger sisters. It is possible, however, that she was subsequently, in some formal way, associated as regent, for the Acta of the Forty-Two Martyrs of Amorium also link her as co-ruler with Michael and Theodora. Her disappearance from the solidi of Class I was in any case a matter of practical convenience—there was no longer room for her on the coin—not one of protocol, for she remained on Class I of the miliaresia, which outlasted Class I of the solidi. Theodora’s own place on the coins was limited to the period of her regency. Although she presumably lost her rank of Augusta when she was relegated to a nunnery in 858, she seems to have reassumed it, at least as a courtesy title, when she was subsequently allowed her freedom, but she does not reappear on the coins.

The revival of the bust of Christ on the gold coinage must have required some research on the part of the mint, since the design was copied from that of Justinian II's first reign and, as on the earlier occasion, its use was limited to the gold. It is not clear why the "classical" head of Christ was chosen in preference to the “Syrian” Christ of Justinian’s second reign. Itmay have been amatter of chance—the second type was perhaps not known—or it may have been through a preference, very natural on a coin, for the “ruler” over the “savior” image, more particularly if it was that used for the icon of the Christ, of Chalkê. The text of the Acts of the Council of 843 which restored images, and whose precise terms might have thrown some light on the subject, has unfortunately not survived. Theodora had moved very cautiously in the matter, since she was anxious to ensure that the bishops did not condemn the memory of her late husband, and the formal restoration of images did not take place until 1 March 843, the first Sunday in Lent, which was to be celebrated in the future as the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, or the Feast of Orthodoxy as it was more commonly called. We do not know how much time elapsed before the new type appeared on the coins, but it may well have been before the end of 843. The religious appeal of the new coin type is self-evident, and it was no doubt intended to play a part in combatting the prejudices aroused by the Iconoclasts. Its propaganda value might even be effective beyond the imperial frontiers. A curious memorial to the success of the Byzantine mission to Greater Moravia came to light in 1957, when a solidus of Michael's Class III was found in the mouth of a skeleton from the cemetery of the church at Mikulčice, which dates from that period.

The title of μεγας βασιλεὐς appears only on Class III of Michael's miliaresia, the second to be issued in his name alone. On the preceding class he uses the epithets έκ θεοῦ and πιστος, as his father had done, but at some date unknown, between 856 and 867, he dropped έκ θεοῦ and replaced it by μεγας (βασιλεὐς Ρωμαιων). This title was one for which Michael seems to have had a certain predilection; it is used in a dated inscription of his reign as early as A.M. 6366 = A.D. 858, and he is addressed as πιστος καὶ μεγας βασιλεὐς in Photius’ homilies. Grégoire’s inference from the inscriptions—that it was first used by Michael and was intended to assert his superiority to the Frankish emperors in the West—cannot be sustained, for the term was in use both before and after him, either with the technical meaning of the senior of two associate emperors or in the more general sense of “great.” There is no doubt that the miliaresia with the title of μεγας belong to the last years of the reign. Their comparative rarity, coupled with the fact that Basil is never personally mentioned on the silver, where the tradition of association was exceptionally strong, suggests that they were in fact introduced in 866, and that while Michael was asserting himself as senior emperor he was deliberately leaving uncertain the future of Basil. Once again, he was playing with fire.

The absence of any Eastern copper coinage assignable either to the regency or to the sole reign of Michael is difficult to explain. The dated coinage of earlier centuries shows the annual minting of copper to have been customary, even if the quantity issued may have varied greatly from year to year. In the late seventh and early eighth centuries we often cannot establish complete sequences, and later coins are completely undated, so there may have been short gaps, but there can never have been one that lasted for a quarter of a century. The alternative possibilities are that the issues of Theophilus’ reformed coinage were so large that no new ones were necessary, or that Theophilus’ folles were immobilized and continued to be struck in his name during most of the reign of his successor. Both would have been contrary to precedent, and it is impossible, on the evidence at present available, to decide between them.

The rare Eastern folles of Michael all belong to the years 866-7. They show the bust of Michael on one face, that of Basil on the other, and both emperors wearing the same costume and holding the same insignia but Michael entitled IMPЄRAT’ and Basil REX. The use of Latin in the inscription, and in particular the terms imperator and rex, led earlier scholars to suppose that the coins must have been struck in Italy, but their fabric, lettering, and style are purely Eastern and their Constantinopolitan origin is now generally acknowledged. The explanation of the inscription, as was pointed out some years ago, was an apparent wish to demonstrate the survival of a knowledge of Latin at the imperial court, which had been cast in doubt, not without reason, in a somewhat impertinent papal letter of 865. The use of rex for the junior emperor is a touch as unexpected as it is felicitous, since Caesar was excluded by the fact of its having become a specialized title at Constantinople inferior to that of the junior basileus.

CONSTANTINOPLE

Solidi. Three classes of solidi were issued. Class I has the busts of Theodora, Michael, and Thecla, Class II those of Christ, Michael, and Theodora, and Class III only those of Christ and Michael. The precise chronology is not certain. The transition from Class II to Class III presumably occurred in 856, when Theodora ceased to be regent and was eliminated from any role in government. Wroth suggests “852 (?) or earlier” for the introduction of Class II, since Michael would then have been thirteen years old and he is shown on the coins as an adolescent, not a small child. Such indications of age, however, are never a reliable guide to dating in Byzantine numismatics, and it may be doubted if the authorities would have waited for nine years after the restoration of images (March 843) to place that of Christ upon the coins. Solidi of Class I are fairly common, but the unusual fact of their being very frequently overstruck on older coins points to a large initial issue made in great haste. I am inclined to believe that Class I was introduced before the end of 843.

The details of the coins require some comment.
Class I. 842-843? These have on one side the facing bust of Theodora, wearing a loros, and on the other those of Michael and Thecla, wearing chlamys and loros respectively, Michael having the place of honor but being represented as much smaller than his sister. The inscription gives Michael and Thecla no titles; Theodora is described as δESPЧNA (δεσποινα). On a number of coins there is an abbreviation mark after the N (δESPЧN’A), indicating that the A was initially not part of the word but a separate control letter—it was perhaps a continuation of the A on the reverse of solidi of Theophilus and Michael III (above, p.416)—but the omission of the abbreviation mark on many dies shows that it was in fact assimilated to the final letter of δεσποινα. The side with Theodora’s bust must in any case be regarded as the obverse. Quite apart from the greater prominence given the empress, her name is preceded by a cross and that of Michael on the other side of the coin by a pellet. The same arrangement had occurred on the solidi of Theophilus and Michael III, with a cross marking the seniority of Theophilus.

Though the coins of Class I are well designed the striking is often careless. The earlier solidi on which they are often overstruck are generally of the reigns of Theophilus or Michael II but sometimes go back as far as that of Leo V. Such overstriking of gold is most unusual, since coins become worn, even if only slightly, in circulation, and the issue of underweight specimens of the standard nomisma was from every point of view undesirable. The regents clearly regarded the coinage as a useful means of propaganda, and by publicizing their own role they hoped to circumvent attempts to set up rivals.

The haste with which the coins were put into circulation is also apparent from the many divergences in detail among the dies. Theodora’s bust is sometimes large, sometimes small, while Michael and Thecla vary greatly in their relative sizes. The pinnacles on Theodora’s crown may be pointed or rounded, while the central one may have apelet in its interior or be omitted altogether, so that the cross rests directly on the crown. Thecla’s crown is even more variable: sometimes there is a central cross but no pinnacles, sometimes a central cross between two pinnacles, sometimes three plain pinnacles with the central one supporting a cross, sometimes the same but with a pellet inside each pinnacle. Thecla’s name is sometimes unbroken at the right-hand side of the reverse (MIXAHLS — ΘЄCLA), but is more often divided, with the Θ or the ΘЄ above her head (MIXAHLSΘ —ЄCLA, MIXAHLSΘЄ—CLA). Letter forms differ: A sometimes replaces A in the reverse inscription, δ interchanges with δ in Theodora’s name. That these changes were ordered from above and distinguish between formal issues, or or indeed can be fitted into any chronological sequence, seems to me very doubtful. The most that one can hope to do is to isolate particular groups of dies as being probably early—e.g. those with Thecla’s name unbroken—and others as probably late, but beyond this one cannot go. Where there is no close control of the details and an issue is only a brief one, a die-sinker will tend to vary his work and may at any moment revert to a pattern he used some weeks earlier. The distinctions made in the text are a fairly obvious breakdown of the main varieties, and are not intended as anything more.

Class II. 843 ?-856. Coins of this class have on the obverse the bust of Christ and on the reverse those of Michael and Theodora, with Michael occupying the place of honor but rather smaller than his mother. In contrast to the coins of Class I the design is extremely uniform; the sizes of the busts will vary slightly from one die to another, but there are no differences in the lettering or in the details of the types. The minting of the coins was evidently very carefully controlled.

The bust of Christ, as we have seen, goes back to the classical effigy of Justinian II solidi, but the execution is cruder—the relief is flatter, there is no attempt to distinguish between the planes of the face or to bring out the details of the eye and eyeball—and the inscription is simplified, with the Latin element in it omitted—IhSЧS XRISTOS instead of IhS CRISTOS REX REςNANTIЧM. A notably archaic feature is the design of the book-cover; itissimpler than that ofJustinian’s coin—four rows of two pellets instead of, usually, four rows of three—but is quite different from the quincunx which was to be the normal pattern in the future. The book is held from below, though its lower edge, and indeed the lower pair of pellets, are usually off flan. On worn specimens the hair on Christ's left shoulder gives the impression of having fused with the lines of the pallium, looking as if it were longer than on the other side and hanging in front of the shoulder. This is the result of wear, however, and not, as Breckenridge supposed, of the die-sinker having misunderstood the original design. On well-preserved specimens the lines of the hair and the pallium are distinct and the hair on the left side, though slightly longer than on the right, always stops above the shoulder.

Class III. 856-867. This class requires no comment. The representation of Christ is identical with that of Class II. Michael is shown bearded, though the hatching of the line around his face is usually blurred by wear. The labarum held by the emperor is borrowed from the folles of the preceding reign, and forms an item in the regalia which after a long period of neglect was coming again into fashion. As with Class II, the dies are extremely uniform and no significant varieties exist.

FRACTIONAL GOLD. The only known specimen is a unique semissis of Class III in the British Museum. The design is the same as that of the solidus, but owing to the smaller size of the coin, the akakia and the emperor’s left hand have been omitted and a pellet is substituted for the cross in the labarum.

MILIARESION. Three classes of miliaresion were struck—Class I (842-856) in the names of Michael, Theodora, and Thecla, Class II (856-866?) in the name of Michael alone with the epithets ЄC ΘЄЧ PISTOS, and Class III (866?-867) also in that of Michael alone but with the epithets PISTOS MEGAS. Coins of Class III were known to de Saulcy and Sabatier only from a description in Tanini—a specimen was first properly published by the Vicomte B. de Jonghe in 1898—and remain fairly rare. The order of issue is certain, for Class III saw two trivial innovations, the placing of four tiny pellets on the innermost circle of dots on the obverse and of a globule beneath the steps of the cross on the reverse, which carry over into the coinage of Basil I. The four pellets are barely visible and had presumably some technical function, perhaps that of assisting the die-sinker to align the inscription correctly.

FOLLIS. The only folles of the reign, those of Michael and Basil, have been discussed already. Both emperors are shown as bearded, Michael because of his technical seniority, Basil because of his greater age. Specimens are usually in very good condition, as if they are survivors of an issue withdrawn from circulation, for reasons one can understand, early in the reign of Basil I.

SYRACUSE

Michael's Sicilian coinage was limited to two or possibly three denominations, a semissis ofbasegoldandafolisand perhaps a half follis of copper. They are distinguished from coins of earlier Michaels by the emperor's long, emaciated face, which is of a type that developed on the later coinage of Theophilus and was to be continued on coins of the joint reign of Michael III and Basil and on those of Basil himself. The gold coinage is in addition of poor quality metal.

There are three classes of semisis. Class I has on the obverse a bust of Michael wearing a loros and holding a globe surmounted by a patriarchal cross. The reverse type is the same, but Michael wears a chlamys. The inscription on both sides is MIXAHLΘ, the final Θ being a polite gesture to Theodora. As with the semissis of Constantinople there is no specific mark of value, and the fact that the coins are light semisses has to be deduced from their weight. They are too heavy to be tremisses. Isolated debased gold coins are often overweight, but not consistently so, as these are, and their weight (c. 1.7 g) has in any case to be compared with that of the light solidus of Sicily (c. 4g) and not that of Constantinople. The distinction between obverse and reverse follows from the fact that when Basil is later associated with Michael, it is he who wears the chlamys and Michael the loros. The coins of Class II resemble those of Class I, but the emperor holds a globus cruciger instead of a globe with patriarchal cross and the inscription is MIXAHΛ, without Θ and with Λ instead of L. The class was presumably introduced in 856, when Theodora fell from power, and the globus cruciger and the Λ were continued on coins of Class III. These resemble in all respects those of Class II save that Basil is substituted for Michael on the reverse.

The copper coins are all in the name of Michael alone, having on the obverse a facing bust and on the reverse an M with a Θ beneath it. The reverse type revived that of Michael II and Theophilus, the Θ now referring to Theodora, though it in fact became immobilized and was employed throughout the reign. In addition to the main series of coins there are some of smaller module and low weight which are either half folles or, since like Classes II and III of the semissis they substitute Λ for L in the inscription, reduced folles of the last decade of the reign. I have described the single specimen here as a half follis, but this may not stand up to further examination.

A few other Sicilian folles have been ascribed to Michael III, but in error. Wroth and Ratto attributed to him coins with a bust of Michael on both sides which really belong to Michael I (W. 20-1, R. 1848; above, p. 369, No. 9). The same is true of a coin described by C. Davies Sherborn and ascribed by him to Michael and Basil; both emperors’ names are in fact illegible and the coin is probably one of Nicephorus I (above, p. 361, No.11). The occasional occurrence of overstrikes among Sicilian copper coins of this period can easily create apparent mules between types of different reigns.

CHERSON

Cast coins of two types were issued at Cherson under Michael III. The first has on one face a Π (for πολις) and on the other an X (for Χερσωνος). It is presumably a municipal issue, and is datable only by its resemblance to the second type, which has on the obverse the initials of the two emperors (M B) and on the reverse ΠX. The opening of this new mint at Cherson coincides with what is usually construed as a temporary cessation of the minting of copper at Constantinople, which suggests that it was simply intended to make good a local shortage of coin. But it equally coincides with the appearance of a new Slavonic power on the Byzantine horizon—the first Russian attack on Constantinople took place in 860—and new needs may have come into existence at Cherson as a result of the activities of its neighbors. The problem is discussed in the Introduction, pp.91-2.

(from DOC vol. lll)

Coinage