Item number: A1147

Year: AD 1240-1261

Material: Gold

Size: 11.8 x 11.3 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 1.75 g

Manufactured by: Constantinople Mint

Provenance: Künker 2024

This is a hyperpyron gold coin of the Latin Empire, modelled after the coins issued by John III of the Empire of Nicaea. The obverse features a central image of Christ enthroned, holding the Gospel and a globus cruciger. On the reverse, the emperor on the left, holding a labarum (a military standard bearing the “Chi-Rho”(☧) symbol, which Emperor Constantine I adopted after what he believed to be divine inspiration from Christ) and an akakia (a cylindrical purple silk pouch filled with dust, symbolising the inevitability of death), is being crowned by the Virgin Mary, depicted on the right.

The hyperpyron gold coin (literally meaning “super-refined”) was introduced by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos of the Komnenian dynasty as a replacement for the solidus and histamenon, both of which had been gradually debased in purity. During his reign, Alexios sought assistance from the Western Church in order to defend against Islamic powers such as the Seljuk Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt, a request that ultimately led to the initiation of the First Crusade.

In AD 1203, the Fourth Crusade, lacking funds, borrowed from the Republic of Venice. Under the influence of the Venetian Doge, the Crusaders redirected their efforts toward Constantinople, claiming to restore Alexios IV to the throne, and demanded that the Byzantine Empire cover all expenses. After Alexios IV ascended to the throne, he was unable to fulfil his financial promises to the Crusaders. Additionally, Greek discontent with the emperor’s concessions to the Latins led to his overthrow. In AD 1204, the Crusaders captured Constantinople and established the Latin Empire, while other Greek-established states, such as the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond, fragmented the former Byzantine territories.

物件編號: A1147

年代: 公元 1240-1261 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 11.8 x 11.3 x 1.2 mm

重量: 1.75 g

製造地: 君士坦丁堡造幣廠

來源: 昆克 2024

這是一枚拉丁帝國的赫帕派倫金幣，其樣式仿造自尼西亞帝國約翰三世所發行的金幣。正面中央為基督坐像，手持福音書及十字聖球。背面左側為手持拉布蘭旗(帶有「凱樂符號」「☧」的軍旗，君士坦丁一世認為受基督啟發後所使用)及阿卡基亞(含塵土的紫色絲綢圓柱，象徵人類無法脫離死亡的本質)的皇帝受到右側聖母瑪利亞的加冕。

赫帕派倫金幣(其字面意義為超級精煉)由科穆寧王朝的阿歷克塞一世所發行，用以取代索利都斯及希斯塔麥倫兩種純度日益降低的金幣。在其任內為了抵禦塞爾柱帝國及埃及法蒂瑪王朝等伊斯蘭教勢力，向西方教會求援而引發第一次十字軍東征。

公元1203年第四次十字軍由於缺乏經費而向威尼斯共和國借款，在總督的煽動下，十字軍以恢復阿歷克塞四世皇位的名義將目標轉至君士坦丁堡，並要求拜占庭帝國支付一切開支。阿歷克塞四世登基後，無力支付事先承諾給十字軍的報酬，加上希臘人民不滿皇帝對拉丁人的退讓而將其推翻。公元1204年十字軍佔領君士坦丁堡成立拉丁帝國，與其他希臘人建立的政權(尼西亞帝國、特拉比松帝國等)，將原拜占庭帝國領土分裂統治。