A Couple Of Recent Aquisitions ( And An Older One)

I appreciate thematic collecting. As Ron says, a very nice group. Well done.

Good question. Such questions really help flesh out my understanding of the coins and their design.. while having my morning coffee I went hunting for the answer:

For the Aspron Trachy ( this particular Variety) The saint is the Virgin. Another Variety from Manuel I the saint is Theodore. A quick scan through Sear and I see different Rulers had different saints on their Aspron Trachys. My guess, for now, is that in many cases the saint used may be the patron saint of the ruler concerned.

For the Histamenon the Saint is the Virgin.

A quick note on the obverse. Although in most issues it is Christ I did see, Flipping through Sear, one example where it was the Virgin seated.

I should add that there is one more coin that should be included in this "family-tree" That being the Venetian Ducat. Unfortunately, my one example is in the bank, so I can't post a picture. The ducat has an interesting change.... the doge is kneeling. I have not seen any commentary so the next bit is my observation. It seems to me that in the 12th - 13th Centuries, the Church became more powerful and influential over rulers. most coins show the ruler subservient to the church in some way. A notable exception is the Augustale of Federick II ( produced from 1231). Compared to the coins of other European Rulers that Augustale reeks of arrogance. Frederik became Holy Roman Emperor and he regarded himself as a ruler in the Roman imperial sense. He soon became an Enemy of the papacy, he was excommunicated 4 times and even declared to be the antichrist. The antipathy can be understood territorially he ruled Jerusalem Sicily and all of the Italian Peninsula (Except for the papal holdings) through to Germany and Burgundy. Under his reign, the Holy Roman Empire was territorially at its hight. By all accounts, he was an enlightened Ruler( he was educated and spoke several languages).. he banned trial by ordeal as he saw it as superstitious nonsense. Obviously, his power which he flaunted, was greater than the church of Rome and conflict with the papacy was probably unavoidable.