Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 1373. Estimate $100.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2008.  Sold For $345. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BULGARIA, Second Empire. temp. Ivan I (Kalojan). 1196–1207. Æ Trachy (1.53 g, 6h). Imitating AV hyperpyron of Alexius II Angelus-Comnenus, 1195-1203. Christ standing facing, IC XC across field / Emperors standing facing, holding cross between them. Cf. SB 2007-8 (for Byzantine prototype); Raduchev & Zhekov Type -; cf. Youroukova & Penchev 158. Near VF, green patina.

While the succession to the throne of Ivan I (Kaloyan), Petar IV’s youngest brother, might have initially seemed a set-back, given all that Petar IV had accomplished to that point, as tsar, Kaloyan increased Bulgaria’s territory and took advantage of Byzantine political instability to expand his country’s influence in the region. After establishing a union with the Papacy, whereby he received the title Rex, he renewed war against the Byzantines and, after 1204, on its Latin successor state, conquering in the process large parts of Thrace, as well as the whole of Macedonia. In 1205, he decisively defeated the newly created Latin Empire, including the capture of its emperor, Baldwin, who later died in captivity in Tarnovo. In the following year, Ivan I (Kaloyan) inflicted another heavy Latin defeat at the battle of Rusion. During this time the Byzantine nobility seemed to support the Bulgarians against the Latin Empire; worried at Bulgarian successes at its own expense, the nobility reversed its position by betraying the Bulgarians and allying with the Latins. In retaliation for this betrayal, Ivan I (Kaloyan) became infuriated and, according to the Bulgarian Chronicle, at the siege of Varna in 1201, he ordered to be buried alive the whole Greek population of the city. Furthermore, Ivan I (Kaloyan) adopted the epithet Romanoktonos (Roman-slayer) as the Byzantine emperor Basil II had been called Bulgaroktonos (Bulgarian-slayer). Until his death in 1207, Ivan I (Kaloyan) continued to expand Bulgaria’s territories, fighting against the Hungarians.