Sale: Triton X, Lot: 865. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Theodore I Comnenus-Lascaris. Emperor of Nicaea, 1208-1222. PB Seal (38mm, 37.30 g, 12h). Struck circa 1195-1203. O AGIOC QEODWPW C in columnar format, the military saint Theodore Teron(?) standing facing, nimbate, holding spear in right hand, shield in left / MAPTVC / KOMNHNON QE/ODWPON DEC/POTHN ANAKT[O] / FV(OU)C CVZ[V] / G(OU) (sic) ANNHC [C] / [KEPOIC] in seven lines across field. Cf. Zacos & Veglery 2753. VF, gray-brown patina, double-struck on obverse.

The absence of the imperial title on this seal suggests it was struck before his coronation, and probably after 1204, when Alexius III’s other son-in-law and designated heir-apparent, Alexius Paleologus, died defending Constantinople. The only other seal of Theodore as Despot is the half fragment published in Zacos & Veglery. This seal is slightly different in its layout, but allows the reverse inscription to be completed and corrected; anaktopaidoV (daughter of the emperor) is actually anaktofuoV (imperial-born), but it still has the effect of emphasizing Theodore’s link to the imperial succession through his marriage to Anna. C CVZV / G_ is a grammatical error on the part of the engraver; it should be suzugon (husband), referring to Theodore.