Rare Half Stavraton of John VII as Regent

CNG 96, Lot: 1042. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

John VII Palaeologus. Regent, 1399-1402. AR Half Stavraton (21mm, 3.71 g, 5h). Light (Class II) coinage of Manuel II. Constantinople mint. Struck 1399-1403. Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator; C Π in outer margin / Nimbate crowned facing bust of John; pellets flanking. DOC 1334-45; PCPC 346.8, sigla 8; SB 2562; NAC 56, lot 854 (hammer at 3500 CHF). Near EF, lightly toned, small edge split. Rare and exceptional for issue.

By 1399, the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I had besieged Constantinople for five years. In desperation, Manuel II left the city to tour the courts of Europe, where he visited England, France, and Denmark in search of military aid. Manuel declared his nephew John VII, whom the emperor at the beginning of his reign had feared would attempt to claim the throne, as regent for the period of his absence. Though the emperor was able to secure some foreign troops – Charles VI of France sent six ships – Constantinople’s deliverance was ultimately secured in the East, when Timur smashed the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Ankara, forcing them to lift the siege and temporarily withdraw from Byzantine territories.