Coins of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 1190. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BULGARIA, First Empire. Boris-Mihail. Knyaz, 852-889. PB Seal (19.91 g, 12h). Struck 864-889. Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator / Facing bust of Theotokos. Iordanov Type III.1A; Youroukova & Penchev 4. Fine, tan patina.

The reign of Boris-Mihail (852-889) began with numerous setbacks. During the previous decade, Bulgaria had been fighting a two-front war against the Carolingians in the west and the Byzantine Empire in the east. This period was rife with shifting alliances, as the regional non-aligned states frequently changed sides among the three warring powers. In 864, the Byzantine emperor, Michael III, invaded Bulgarian territory on the pretext that, while Boris-Mihail was prepared to convert to Christianity, it was unacceptable that he would do so by following the Latin rite. In return for receiving territory held by the Byzantines, Boris agreed to be baptized according to the Orthodox rite, and in September 865 assumed the new name of Boris-Mihail, after that of the emperor. Boris also adopted the title "Knyaz," or Duke. The adoption of Christianity had two effects: Boris was now in command of a Christian state, and would be able to negotiate with the rest of Christendom more easily; and the Byzantines now had a fellow-Orthodox ally that they hoped they could treat as a subordinate buffer against the western Roman Catholic powers and a source of manpower for their wars against the encroaching Ottomans.

Founded in 681, the First Bulgarian Empire lasted until 1018, when it was annexed into the Byzantine Empire. It remained under Byzantine control until 1185 with the formation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. During its existence, the First Bulgarian Empire was involved in checking some of the major nomadic migrations, and in 717/8 it allied itself with the Byzantines, helping to defeat a Muslim siege of Constantinople and delay by several centuries the Islamic push into Europe. The First Empire was also involved in checking both the Avars and the Magyars, and stemmed the so-called second wave of the Great Migrations occurring during that time. During this same time, it prospered under rulers, such as Simeon I Veliki, during whose reign the country experienced its first Golden Age. By the eleventh century, however, it was in decline and the Krum dynasty, which had ruled Bulgaria since the ninth century and had seen the country though a period of expansion and conversion to Christianity, died out. Under Samuil Comitopuli there was a period of resurgence, but within a few years of his death, Bulgaria was absorbed by the Byzantines.

The Second Bulgarian Empire began in 1185. After a period of expansion under Ivan I [Koloyan] (1197-1207) and Ivan Asen II (1218-1241) the country experienced a second Golden Age under Ivan Aleksander (1331-1371), but it was short-lived as his sons broke away parts of the kingdom into their own independent territories. After 1371, Bulgaria, now divided, grew ever weaker, and by the end of the fourteenth century was a much-reduced shadow of its former self.