Very Rare ‘Politikon’ Issue

277, Lot: 361. Estimate $150. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

John V Palaeologus. 1341-1391. Æ Stamenon (20mm, 1.49 g, 6h). ‘Politikon’ coinage. Class XVI. Constantinople mint. [+Π]OΛITIKON around cross / John standing facing, holding labarum-tipped scepter and globus cruciger. DOC 1224-5; PCPC 359; LPC p. 180, 4; SB 2574. Fine, green patina. Very rare.

While these bronze coins, of the same types as billon tornesi of John but on larger and heavier flans, are generally referred to as stamena, DOC (p. 196) notes:“...it would have been confusing to users to have tornesi and stamena of the same type and it is more probable that they were once silvered and reckoned as tornesi.”