Michael VII Gold Electrum Coin (1071-1078) More Info Please

Westminster may sometimes indulge in questionable business practices (especially with regard to overpricing), but all the coins they sell are genuine, or at least are not fakes commissioned by them. It is possible it has not been identified properly by them (Westminster aren't the most knowledgeable when it comes to ancient and mediaeval coins and are simply passing along information they were told by whoever sold them the coins).

In case it hasn't been stated anywhere else and you're unsure where it comes from, Michael VII was a Byzantine emperor. Yes, it is a thousand years old. The denomination is called an "electrum trachy", to distinguish it from the debased-silver "billon trachy" which the Byzantines also issued. There are four examples of this coin at the top of the Wildwinds page for this ruler.

Some of the coins in the Wildwinds database are derived from old coin auctions; these four are. Prices paid for those four coins back in 2001-2002 were $246, $269, $327 and $276. As I suspected; Westminster charged triple the actual market value for the coin, but the coin probably is indeed genuine. The price of gold has gone up since 2001, but not I suspect enough to warrant a £530 pricetag, even today. The price you paid ($295) is much more in line with market reality.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

Thank you Sap especially for the extra info I was after :)

I have bought many coins, but this one I am most looking forward to receiving.

I have paid for special delivery and just hope it arrives before the Christmas!

Do you guys think it is a safe place to keep it (in the Westminster box)? or will it discolour in time?
I'm guessing there are no capsules in this shape :)

Eng5858, yours looks a nice example. Before I started researching this coin I would have been shocked to see one in such a nice state, but it appears there are near perfect examples out there. It makes you wonder if 1000 years ago when they were struck, did someone say 'I best store this well because it will be worth a lot in the future'

Were these used as money? what would be purchased with "electrum trachy", ? and what would the equivalent be in todays money?

If coin collectors existed back in Byzantine times, they did not get a mention in any of the surviving histories.

As with many ancient and mediaeval coins, the ones that have survived down to today were lost somehow and dug up again centuries later. Coins in pristine condition likely saw little circulation because they were lost shortly after manufacture. When you consider Byzantine history, the battle of Manzikert happened shortly before these coins were made. Manzikert was one of the greatest disasters to befall the Empire; not only were thousands of troops slaughtered, but large swathes of territory in what is now Turkey were lost, never to be regained.

I suspect many hoards of coins from this time period were buried by people who never came back to reclaim their treasure, either because they had been killed in the fighting or because they suddenly found themselves on the opposite side of the border from where they hid their money.


The coinage of this time period was complex. As far as we know from surviving records, theoretically, the electrum trachy was still worth the same as the old solid gold solidus, worth 180 copper folles or 12 silver miliaresia, though nobody in the markets were fooled; coins exchanged value based on bullion value only, not on what the government said the face value was. In the coinage reform of 1093, electrum coins were re-valued at 1/3 of the new solid gold coin, the hyperpyron.

As for purchasing power, this also is difficult to compare, given the vastly different expectations of "civilization" between the Byzantines and us. There are also surprisingly few records of prices for basic goods from this time period; most of the surviving historical records focussed on the lives and times of the great and powerful and were unconcerned about the price of eggs. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the coin contains about $100 worth of gold in today's money, and gold has more or less retained its buying power down through the ages - so thinking of this coin as the Byzantine equivalent of a $100 note would not be too inaccurate.

Not that very many common, ordinary people of Constantinople would have seen too many of these coins. They were primarily used to pay the mercenary armies and navies upon which the Empire relied more and more for defence, and to pay bribes and tribute to the enemies of the Empire in exchange for peace. It's entirely possible that, apart from the fellow that actually struck it, not a single Byzantine ever touched your coin.

arrived this morning, here are some pics, hope the pics are ok.
Any thoughts appreciated

Hope I got a couple of pics there that are ok... think my next investment may need to be for a camera :)

On first impressions it doesn't look like the sharpest strike in the world, but I would be happy to have it in my collection and my gut feeling is (not really knowing the value of these coins) that for the price you paid I would be feeling happy to have such a coin.

For a coin bought sight-unseen you couldn't really have hoped for any better. Good job :)