CNG 99, Lot: 851. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Constantine IX Monomachus. 1042-1055. AR Two-Thirds Miliaresion (24mm, 2.16 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. H RLAXEP-NITICA, half-length bust of the Virgin Mary facing, orans / ΘKЄ R, Θ,/ KωNCTAN/TINω ΔЄC/ΠOTH Tω/ MONOMA in five lines; – – – above, – X – below. DOC 8a; SB 1835. Good VF, lightly toned, flan a little wavy. Rare.

From the Prue Morgan Fitts Collection.

The fractional two-thirds miliaresion was first minted under Constantine IX, and production of the denomination continued down to the time of the Alexian currency reform of 1092. The obverse legend indicates this is not merely a generic image of the Virgin, but instead depicts an icon in the Church of the Virgin at Blachernae. Grierson (Byzantine Coins, p. 203) suggests that its appearance at this time may be related to the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the church, which had been founded in the mid-5th century by the empress Pulcheria, sister of Theodosius II.