After Byzantium - before Byzantium. The Nicene Empire and its coins

Dear Readers! In the last article, we talked about the solidus of the regency of Empress Theodora. Today we are introducing two golden hyperpyrones of the Nicene Empire. Coins of the Nicene Empire also belong to the category of Byzantine numismatics and an explanation will be given below.

First, briefly about the Nicene Empire. In 1204, the crusaders (during the 4th crusade) treacherously captured Constantinople. As a result, several states were formed on the territory of the former Byzantine Empire: the Latin Empire of the Crusaders with the center in Constantinople, the Trebizond Empire on the Black Sea, the Epirus despotate in the west of Greece and, we are considering, the Nicene Empire on the territory of Bithynia with its capital in Nicaea.

States after the collapse of Byzantium 1204.

The weak military forces of the young state would have been defeated by the crusaders, if not for the heavy defeat of the latter from the Bulgarians, and the capture of the first emperor of the Latin Empire by them. The city fortifications and the gates of Nicaea are shown in Fig. 2, 3




John III Duca Vatats was the son-in-law of the first emperor of the Nicene Empire and ruled from 1222 to 1254. Thanks to successful wars and sound state and economic policies, strengthening the army and building a powerful fleet, the territory of the empire was significantly expanded. The possessions of the Nicene Empire (at the time of John's death) included many of the central regions of the former Byzantine Empire. The conditions were created for the liberation of Constantinople and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire, which happened shortly after the death of John in 1261.

The gold hyperpyrones of the Nicene Empire of the period of the reign of John III Duca Vatatz presented below and sold on Violiti on the obverse contain the image of the Virgin Mary crowning the emperor, on the reverse - the image of Jesus Christ. As a reminder, these coins were purchased in the section "Gold, electric coins of ancient and medieval states".