BYZANTINE COIN

Gold coin, Early Medieval Byzantine, pierced, treasureThis was examined by Barry Ager who comments-I have examined a single coin reported found in the Bedale area. The coin is a gold histamenon trachy of the Byzantine emperor Michael VII Ducas (1071-1078), class IId and it weighs 4.17g, at the lower end of the range for examples of this coin. The obverse of the coin depicts a bust of Christ, raising his hand in blessing and the reverse shows a bust of the emperor with his name and titles in Greek letters.Although the Byzantine gold coinage was famous for centuries for its fineness, the later 11th century was a time of debasement, and the gold of Michael VII was in fact about 12 carats fine, i.e. about 50% gold to 50% silver in its makeup. Michael VII's gold coins, known to westerners as 'michelois', were the principal high-value coin in the Middle East encountered by participants in the First Crusade in the 1090s and in the early years of the kingdom of Jerusalem and the other crusader states at the start of the 12th century. Although single coins are not normally eligible for consideration under the Treasure Act, coins removed from currency and converted into jewellery are so clas