WIP: The Byzantine Coinage of Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078)

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Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078)




Michael VII was born c. 1050 in Constantinople, the eldest son of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa. He was associated with his father on the throne late in 1059, together with or shortly before his newly born brother Konstantios Doukas. When Constantine X died in 1067, Michael VII was 17 years old and should have been able to rule by himself. He exhibited little interest in politics, however, and his mother Eudokia and uncle John Doukas governed the empire as effective regents.

On January 1, 1068, Eudokia married the general Romanos Diogenes, who now became senior co-emperor alongside Michael VII, Konstantios, and another brother, Andronikos. When Romanos IV was defeated and captured by Alp Arslan of the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert in August 1071, Michael VII remained in the background, while the initiative was taken by his uncle John Doukas and his tutor Michael Psellos. They conspired to keep Romanos from regaining power after his release from captivity, while Michael felt no obligation to honor the agreement that Romanos struck with the Sultan. After the dispatch of Eudokia to a monastery, Michael VII was crowned again on October 24, 1071 as senior emperor.

Although still advised by Michael Psellos and John Doukas, Michael VII became increasingly reliant on his finance minister Nikephoritzes. The emperor's chief interests, shaped by Psellos, were in academic pursuits, and he allowed Nikephoritzes to increase both taxation and luxury spending without properly financing the army. As an emperor he was incompetent, surrounded by sycophantic court officials, and blind to the empire collapsing around him. In dire straits, imperial officials resorted to property confiscations and even expropriated some of the wealth of the church. The underpaid army tended to mutiny, and the Byzantines lost Bari, their last possession in Italy, to the Normans of Robert Guiscard in 1071. Simultaneously, they faced a serious revolt in the Balkans, where they faced an attempt for the restoration of the Bulgarian state. Although this revolt was suppressed by the general Nikephoros Bryennios, the Byzantine Empire was unable to recover its losses in Asia Minor.

After Manzikert, the Byzantine government sent a new army to contain the Seljuk Turks under Isaac Komnenos, a brother of the future emperor Alexios I Komnenos, but this army was defeated and its commander captured in 1073. The problem was made worse by the desertion of the Byzantines' western mercenaries, who became the object of the next military expedition in the area, led by the Caesar John Doukas. This campaign also ended in failure, and its commander was likewise captured by the enemy. The victorious mercenaries now forced John Doukas to stand as pretender to the throne. The government of Michael VII was forced to recognize the conquests of the Seljuks in Asia Minor in 1074, and to seek their support. A new army under Alexios Komnenos, reinforced by Seljuk troops sent by Malik Shah I, finally defeated the mercenaries and captured John Doukas in 1074.

These misfortunes caused widespread dissatisfaction, exacerbated by the devaluation of the currency, which gave the emperor his nickname Parapinakes, "minus a quarter". In 1078 two generals, Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros Botaneiates, simultaneously revolted in the Balkans and Anatolia, respectively. Botaneiates gained the support of the Seljuk Turks, and he reached Constantinople first. Michael VII resigned the throne with hardly a struggle on March 31, 1078 and retired into the Monastery of Stoudios. He later became metropolitan of Ephesus and died in Constantinople in c. 1090.


Adapted from Wikipedia























Metal: AV
Denomination: Solidus
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: Facing bust, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys , holding cross potent and akakia
Rev: Facing bust, wearing crown and loros , holding globus cruciger and cross-tipped sceptre
References: Sear-1615; DOC-1a
Provenance: Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 84, Lot 1356





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Metal: AV
Denomination: Solidus
Mint: Syracuse
Obv: Crowned and bearded facing bust of Michael, wearing loros and holding cross potent in right hand
Rev: Crowned and beardless bust of Theophylactus facing, wearing chlamys and holding globus cruciger in right hand
References: Sear-1620; DOC-7
Provenance: Heritage Auctions, Inc. Auction 3035, Lot 29545





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Metal: AV
Denomination: Semissis
Mint: Syracuse
Obv: Bust of Michael facing, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia
Rev: Bust of Michael, with short beard, wearing crown and chlamys, holding cross potent on globus and akakia
References: Sear-1621; DOC-5
Provenance: Stack's The Golden Horn Collection, Lot 3194





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Metal: AV
Denomination: Tremissis
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: Crowned, draped and bearded bust of Michael I facing, holding cross on globe
Rev: Crowned, draped and beardless bust of Theophylactus facing, holding cross potent on base
References: DOC-2
Provenance: H. Goodacre, Notes on Some Rare Byzantine Coins, The Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. 11, No. 43 (1931), pp. 155, Pl. XI, 8





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Metal: AV
Denomination: Tremissis
Mint: Syracuse
Obv: Crowned, draped and bearded bust of Michael I facing, holding cross on globe
Rev: Crowned, draped and beardless bust of Theophylactus facing, holding cross potent on base
References: Sear-1623; DOC-6
Provenance: Leu Numismatik AG Auction 86, Lot 1121





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Metal: AR
Denomination: Miliaresion
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: I?S?S XRIST?S ?ICA; Cross potent set on three steps
Rev: Inscription of Michael and Theophylactus in five lines across field
References: Sear-1873; DOC-3
Provenance: Gemini LLC Auction III, Lot 530





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Metal: AR
Denomination: ⅔ Miliaresion
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: I?S?S XRIST?S ?ICA; Cross potent set on three steps
Rev: Inscription of Michael and Theophylactus in five lines across field
References: Sear-1874; DOC-3
Provenance: Gemini LLC Auction III, Lot 530





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Metal: AR
Denomination: ⅔ Miliaresion
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: IC XC; Christ seated on backless throne facing, bearded, with nimbus, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised in blessing, left holds book, by spine one knee
Ιησούς Χριστός; Jesus Christ
Rev: + ΘKЄ / BΘHOЄI / MIXAKΛ / ΔЄCΠOTH / Tω ΔUKA in five lines
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Μιχαήλ Δεσπότη τῷ Δούκας; Mother of God, help Michael Doukas the Despot
References: Sear-1875; DOC-3
Provenance: Gemini LLC Auction III, Lot 530





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Metal: AR
Denomination: ⅔ Miliaresion
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: MP - ΘV; Facing bust of the Virgin Mary, holding medallion with the face of the Holy Infant; pellet to left and right
Μήτηρ Θεοῦ; Mother of God
Rev: + ΘKЄ / BΘHOЄI / MIXAKΛ / ΔЄCΠOTH / Tω ΔUKA in five lines
Θεοτόκε βοήθει Μιχαήλ Δεσπότη τῷ Δούκας; Mother of God, help Michael Doukas the Despot
References: Sear-1876; DOC-8
Provenance: Gemini LLC Auction III, Lot 530





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Metal: AR
Denomination: ⅔ Miliaresion
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: I?S?S XRIST?S ?ICA; Cross potent set on three steps
Rev: Inscription of Michael and Theophylactus in five lines across field
Dimensions: 0.68 gm
References: Sear-1877; DOC-13
Provenance: CNG Sale 60, Lot 2042





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Metal: AE
Denomination: Follis
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: Bust of Christ Pantokrator facing, bearded, with cross behind, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised before breast in blessing, left hand holds book from beneath. In field, IC and XC above lateral arms of cross; six-pointed stars beneath them to left and right
Ιησούς Χριστός; Jesus Christ
Rev: +MIX AHΛ RACIOΔ; Crowned bust of Michael facing, bearded, wearing modified loros with collar-piece and crown with cross and pendilia, holding in right hand labarum, in left globus cruciger
Μιχαήλ βασιλέυς ό Δούκας; Emperor Michael Doukas
Dimensions: 26mm, 7.39 g, 6h
References: Sear-1878; DOC-14b, under Michael II
Provenance: CNG Electronic Auction 368, Lot 546






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Metal: AE
Denomination: Follis
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: Bust of Christ Pantokrator facing, bearded, with cross behind, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised before breast in blessing, left hand holds book from beneath. In field, six-pointed stars above lateral arms of cross; IC and XC beneath them to left and right
Rev: +MIX AHΛ RACIOΔ; Crowned bust of Michael facing, bearded, wearing modified loros with collar-piece and crown with cross and pendilia, holding in right hand labarum, in left globus cruciger
Dimensions: 8.99 g, 6h
References: Sear-1879; DOC-14d
Provenance: CNG Sale 72, Lot 2171





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Metal: AE
Denomination: Follis
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: Bust of Christ facing wearing cruciger, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels; In field, IC and XC
Rev: Patriarchal cross with globule and two pellets at each extremity; in lower field, on either side, floral ornament
Dimensions: 23mm, 4.95 g, 6h
References: Sear-1880; DOC-H.5
Provenance: CNG Electronic Auction 320, Lot 642






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Metal: AE
Denomination: Half Follis
Mint: Constantinople
Obv: Bust of Christ Pantokrator facing, bearded, with cross behind, wearing tunic and himation; right hand raised before breast in blessing, left hand holds book from beneath. In field, IC and XC above lateral arms of cross; six-pointed stars beneath them to left and right
Rev: +MIX AHΛ RACIOΔ; Crowned bust of Michael facing, bearded, wearing modified loros with collar-piece and crown with cross and pendilia, holding in right hand labarum, in left globus cruciger
Dimensions: 2.74 gm, 6h
References: Sear-1880a; DOC-15
Provenance: CNG Electronic Auction 69, Lot 1889





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Metal: Pb
Denomination: Lead Seal
Obv: Facing bust of Christ; stars flanking
Ιησούς Χριστός; Jesus Christ
Rev: Crowned facing bust of Michael, holding labarum and globus cruciger
Μιχαὴλ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαίων ὁ Δούκας; Michael Doukas, Autokrator of the Romans
Dimensions: 31 mm, 23.74 gm
References: BZS.1951.31.5.1674 (formerly DO Seals 6, no. 84.4)
Provenance: Dumbarton Oaks Collection of Byzantine Seals





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References

Bellinger, Alfred R., Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection - Volume III, Part 2, Dumbarton Oaks, 1973
Grierson, Philip, Byzantine Coins, Methuen & Co Ltd, 1982
Grierson, Philip, Byzantine Coinage, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1999
Sear, David R., Byzantine Coins and their Values, Seaby, 1974
Sommer, Andreas U., Die Münzen des Byzantinischen Reiches 491-1453, Gietl Verlag, 2010
Sommer, Andreas U., Katalog der Byzantinischen Münzen, Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2003
Whitting, P. D., Byzantine Coins, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1973

A gallery of my coins can been seen at FORVM Ancient Coins