Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1205. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Theodore I Comnenus-Lascaris. Emperor of Nicaea, 1208-1222. PB Seal (38mm, 37.30 g, 12h). O/A/G/I/O/[C] down left field; QE/O/Dw/RwC down right field; St. Theodore standing facing, wearing military dress, holding spear in right hand and shield in left / MARTVC/ KOMNHNON QE/ODwRON DEC/POTHN ANAKT[A(?)]/FV(OY)C CVZ[V]/G(OY) ANNHC C/[KEPOIC] in six lines; cross above(?). Cf. BLS I 2753; DOCBS -; Seyrig -; Vatican -; Orghidan -; Jordanov -. VF, gray-brown patina, obverse double struck.

From the Robert E. Hecht Collection. Ex Triton X (9 January 2007), lot 865.

The absence of the imperial title on this seal suggests it was struck before his coronation, and probably after 1204, when Alexius III’s other son-in-law and designated heir, Alexius Paleologus, died defending Constantinople. The only other seal of Theodore as Despot is the half fragment published in BLS I. This seal is slightly different in its layout, but allows the reverse inscription to be completed and corrected; anaktopaidoV (daughter of the emperor) is actually anaktofuoV (imperial-born), but it still has the effect of emphasizing Theodore’s link to the imperial succession through his marriage to Anna. C CVZV / G_ is a grammatical error on the part of the engraver; it should be suzugon (husband), referring to Theodore.