The Great Comet of 1106

CNG 94, Lot: 1517. Estimate $1000. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Alexius I Comnenus. 1081-1118. EL Aspron Trachy (30mm, 4.58 g, 6h). Post-reform period. Second coinage. Thessalonica mint. Struck 1106-1108. Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing / Alexius standing facing, holding globus cruciger and being crowned by the Theotokos, standing facing; star above. DOC 23c; SB 1927. Good VF, light scratches. Extremely rare.

In February of 1106, observers from Wales to China witnessed a comet (X/1106 C1) appear in the sky. Anna Comnena (Alexiad 12.4.1-3) describes how this stellar event was witnessed in Thessalonica by Alexius, as he prepared for his Norman campaign of 1105-1108. The star on the reverse of this issue may refer to that astronomical event, since, as Hendy (p. 97) notes, the Thessalonica mint engravers were freer to record such incidents as part of the overall design.