Sale: CNG 63, Lot: 1730. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2003.  Sold For $500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANDRONICUS III. 1328-1341. AR Basilikon (1.98 gm). Constantinople mint. Christ enthroned facing; sigla B (reverted) B / Andronicus and St. Demetrius standing facing. DOC V 860; Bendall 195.2; SB 2471. Good VF, dents and scuff marks. ($500)

Andronicus III struck no gold during his sole reign, a symptom of the perilous straits the empire found itself in. Andronicus, son of Michael IX and Rita of Armenia, failed to make any permanent headway against his enemies in Greece, Macedonia and the east, and came to depend more on his general John Cantacuzenus (later John VI). Like his father, he died at a young age, leaving his nine year old son as John V.