1195, Byzantine Empire, Isaac II Angelus. El Gold Aspron Trachy Coin
Mint Period: 1185-1195Emperor: Asaac II Angelus Mint Place: Constantinople Reference: Sear # 2002, Friedberg 285. Denomination: Electrum Gold Asporon TrachyMaterial: Electrum Gold (gold & silver alloy)Diameter: 28mmWeight: 3.66gm
Obverse: Isaac II (on left), standing facing, wearing crown with pendilia, divitision, and jeweled chlamys, cruciform scepter in right hand, akakia in left, and Archangel Michael (on right), standing facing in military attire, nimbate, reaching up to crown Isaac with right hand, jeweled scepter in left. Legend (X/AB/XM) in right field.
Reverse: Enthroned figure of the Virgin Mary facing, holding nimbate head of infant Christ on lap. Greek abbreviated title "MHP - ΘV" (Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ = "Mother of God") at sides.
The title of Mother of God (Greek: Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ) or Mother of Incarnate God; abbreviated ΜΡ ΘΥ (first and last letter of each word in Greek), is most often used in English, largely due to the lack of a satisfactory equivalent of the Greek τόκος. For the same reason, the title is often left untranslated, as “Theotokos”, in Orthodox liturgical usage of other languages.
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. The ancient Greeks called it “gold” or “white gold”, as opposed to “refined gold”. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver.
Isaac II Angelos (Greek: Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, Isaakios Komnenos Angelos; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204.
His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a military leader in Asia Minor (c. 1122 – aft. 1185) who married Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa (c. 1125 – aft. 1195). Andronikos Doukas Angelos was the son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora Komnene (b. 15 January 1096/1097), the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus Isaac was a member of the extended imperial clan of the Komnenoi.