In 1204 the Fourth Crusade was deflected from its goal of recapturing Jerusalem from the Muslims and instead attacked the Byzantine Christian capitol Of Constantinople. The Byzantine imperial family, the Comneni, fled the city and set up courts in exile in several outposts of the Empire. In 1261 the Byzantines succeeded in driving out the Latin conquerors and re-establishing the Byzantine Empire. The branch of the Comneni which had fled to the Black Sea port of Trebizond did not rejoin the Byzantine Empire at this time; in fact it remained independent and outlasted the empire at Constantinople by nine years, falling victim in 1462 to the same Turkish sultan Mohamet II who had conquered Byzantium in 1453.

The coinage of the Comneni of Trebizond, not surprisingly, bears strong resemblances to Byzantine numismatics. Trebizond was a major step on the northern trade route with the Orient and was a trading partner of Genoa; its coinage played an important part in the trade of the times. For most of its history, Trebizond issued coins of silver only in one denomination, the asper. On the obverse is a portrait of the emperor with his monogram; on the reverse Saint Eugene and his monogram.

Recently an American dealer bought a coin scale from a California collector who had acquired it from an Austrian dealer. In it he found a secret drawer which contained 167 coins, 164 of which were the aspens of Trebizond. This hoard has now been purchased by Alex G. Malloy, Inc.

In 1204 the Fourth Crusade was deflected from its goal of recapturing Jerusalem from the Muslims and instead attacked the Byzantine Christian capitol Of Constantinople. The Byzantine imperial family, the Comneni, fled the city and set up courts in exile in several outposts of the Empire. In 1261 the Byzantines succeeded in driving out the Latin conquerors and re-establishing the Byzantine Empire. The branch of the Comneni which had fled to the Black Sea port of Trebizond did not rejoin the Byzantine Empire at this time; in fact it remained independent and outlasted the empire at Constantinople by nine years, falling victim in 1462 to the same Turkish sultan Mohamet II who had conquered Byzantium in 1453.

The coinage of the Comneni of Trebizond, not surprisingly, bears strong resemblances to Byzantine numismatics. Trebizond was a major step on the northern trade route with the Orient and was a trading partner of Genoa; its coinage played an important part in the trade of the times. For most of its history, Trebizond issued coins of silver only in one denomination, the asper. On the obverse is a portrait of the emperor with his monogram; on the reverse Saint Eugene and his monogram.

Recently an American dealer bought a coin scale from a California collector who had acquired it from an Austrian dealer. In it he found a secret drawer which contained 167 coins, 164 of which were the aspens of Trebizond. This hoard has now been purchased by Alex G. Malloy, Inc. While the coins are in general not heavily worn or corroded, the engraving and striking are often of poor quality, and in many cases the monogram of the emperor cannot be determined. Three coins appear to be of Basil, 1332-1340 (0.78gr.); one coin of Alexius III, 1349-1390 (0.76gr.); three coins of Manuel III, 1390-1417 (0.75 gr.); twenty-five coins of Alexius IV, 1417-1447; nine coins of Alexius or John; and eighty-six coins of John IV, 1447-1458. While the coins of Alexius IV are not common, those of John IV are quite rare, the only published specimens are from the Hermitage in Leningrad, and there are none in the British Museum Catalogue.

BASIL

The coins attributed to Basil have B in the obverse legend, left. The large design appears to be similar to the larger module of the Retowski types, but struck on reduced flans that are homogeneous to the hoard. The design of the heads of the emperor and St. Eugenius coincide with Retowski examples, ie. neat pellet rendering along with the uniform linear design with little variation in width of line. The average weight is 0.805gr.

MANUEL III

Three coins assigned to Manuel: One has the letter TIT(M) to left, another coin corresponds to the smaller compact design of Manuel's coins and is similar to Retowski II; the third coin is somewhat problematic as only part of Manuel's TIT is present on the coin, i.e. I on edge of flan. Average weight of these are 0.763gr.

ALEXIUS III

This one coin is attributed to Retowski in partial legend and to style. The definite attribution to Alexius III is questionable. The weight of this coin is 0.76gr.

Of the twenty-five coins assigned to Alexius IV, the average weight begins at 0.78gr. These all fall into the general style of the late reduced aspens. In this group there is a set of four die duplicates and one pair which shares an obverse die. The obverse inscription reading to the left of the ruler is IG, G, or A/I€. The neater and more defined style exemplifies the standard facing heads and horse drapery of this period. Of the twenty-five coins attributed to Alexius IV, two coins were attributed by style only. The average weight is 0.77gr .

ALEXIUS IV OR JOHN IV

Nine coins are attributed to the reigns of Alexius and John. The exact reign is impossible to determine due to lack of obverse inscription. These coins reveal the late asper styles present on all standard types of Alexius and John.

JOHN IV (Standard type)

The eighty-six coins of John IV are the largest representation from the hoard. Of these eighty-six coins, fifteen coins fall into the standard late asper type. The obverse inscription to left of emperor is LIJ, GO, I(.xJ, or Le. These types all show the style of standard basic head and horse drapery, and are all basically attributed to Retowski. The average weight of the standard type is 0.775.

JOHN IV (Classes)

The unusual coins in the hoard that have not been hitherto classified have been placed into two categories. The first group is divided into seven classes of coins of John IV. These seventy-one coins deviate from the previously published types in Retowski and the British Museum. They are not like the standard types of the late aspens. The line definition is irregular in width and in sureness of rendering. The overall impression is of a cruder design.