Lot 5546

Description

Empire of Trebizond, Manuel I Comnenus, (1238-1263), silver asper, (2.81 grams), obv. M N I**L* - O KM N (Manuel Comnenus), Manuel standing holding labarum and akakia, touched by Manus Dei above right, rev. O A **G*I [O] - EV **G* NI O, St. Eugenius standing, holding long cross, (S.2601, Retowski 161). Very fine.

Ex Eden Seminary Collection and the Paul Syster Collection. The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire a few weeks prior to that event. Geographically, the Empire of Trebizond never consisted of much more than the southern coast of the Black Sea. Its demographic legacy endured for several centuries after the Ottoman conquest in 1461, and a substantial number of Greek Orthodox inhabitants (called Pontic Greeks) remained in the area until the early 20th century.