Sale: Triton V, Lot: 2307. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 January 2002.  Sold For $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THEODORA. 1055-1056 AD. AV Histamenon Nomisma (4.35 gm). Constantinople mint. + IhS XIS REX REGNANTInM, Christ standing on footstool facing, holding Gospels / + QEOÐWPA AVGOVSTA, Theodora and the Virgin standing facing, holding labarum with pellet on the shaft between them; M Q at the Virgin's shoulders. DOC III 1a; BN 1-4; SB 1837. EF. ($1500)

From the Jürgen K. Schmidt Collection. Ex The New York Sale 3 (7 December 2000), lot 815.

After the death of Constantine IX, Theodora was the sole surviving member of the Macedonian dynasty founded by Basil I, and ruled as empress in her own right for over a year. The elderly Theodora ruled with a firm hand, in stark contrast to the weak non-entities that preceded and followed her.