Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1163. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $1000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

John Comnenus. Curopalates and domesticos of the Scholai of the Occident, 1057-1067. PB Seal (34mm, 22.17 g, 12h). [O]/GE/w/[R] down left field; G/I/O/C down right field; half-length facing bust of St. George, wearing military outfit, holding spear in right hand, shield on left arm / KE ROHQ,/[T]w Cw D(OY)Lw/ [I]w K(OY)ROPAL,T,/S DOMECTIKw/ TwN CXILwN/ THC DVCAIOC/Tw KOMNH/-Nw- in eight lines. BLS I 2681bis; DOCBS I 1.18a; Seyrig -; Vatican -; Orghidan -; Jordanov -. VF, a little rough, gray-brown patina.

From the Robert E. Hecht Collection.

John Comnenus was the brother of the emperor Isaac I and the father of the emperor Alexius I. This seal must date to after 1057, when Isaac ascended the throne and elevated John to the rank of curopalates (a title conferred primarily on members of the imperial family). The year he was appointed domesticos of the Scholai of the Occident is uncertain.