Constantine XI Palaeologus (Dragases). 1448-1453. AR Stavraton (21.5mm, 6.54 g, 1h). Constantinople mint. EF.

Triton XXVI
Lot: 979. Estimated: $ 20 000

Byzantine, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 60 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

Constantine XI Palaeologus (Dragases). 1448-1453. AR Stavraton (21.5mm, 6.54 g, 1h). Constantinople mint. Facing bust of Christ Pantokrator; IC X[C], each with macron above, flanking head of Christ; sigla: – | – / [KωNCTANTINOC ΔЄCΠOTHC O ΠAΛЄOΛOΓ] / [ΘV XAPITH BACIΛЄVC POMЄON], crowned facing bust of Constantine XI. DOC 1787 var. (sigla); Bendall, Coinage 97 (this coin); LBC 1095 var. (sigla); PCPC –; SB –. Toned, traces of find patina, some scratches, areas of weak strike, slightly off center on obverse. EF. Very rare.

From the S & S Collection. Ex Constantine XI hoard (1991).

By the time the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, succeeded his brother John VIII on the throne, the Byzantine Empire consisted of a small parcel of land in Morea and the city of Constaninople. When the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II finally decided to eliminate what had become a minor nuisance to the Turks, the final result was inevitable. Constantinople was taken by siege, and Constantine died fighting at the battlements, rejecting the pleas of his courtiers to flee to safety. His heroic and gruesome death (his body was so mutilated that it was only identifiable by his clothing) led to a popular legend that Constantine had never died, and would return at some point in the future to free Greece from her conquerors. These last coins of the Byzantine Empire are especially rich in history. Several contemporary sources specifically tell us that Constantine ordered sacred vessels to be removed from churches and melted down to strike coins as payment to his soldiers (Bendall pp. 140-141).

The Constantine XI hoard, published by Simon Bendall in 1991, consisted of 158 late Palaeologan silver issues. Over half of the hoard was attributable to Constantine XI, the last Byzantine ruler. Before 1974, when the first coin of Constantine XI appeared on the market, the coinage of Constantine XI was only known from historical sources. This hoard significantly improved and developed the numismatic understanding of the last coinage produced by the Byzantine Empire. A rare offering of a critically important former hoard coin essential to any late Palaeologan or Byzantine collection.

The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.

Triton XXVI – Session Three – Lots 674-990 will be held Wednesday morning, 11 January 2023 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.