Silver grosh, Tarnovo mint — 21 mm · 1.9 g

Michael III Shishman Asen — silver — 1.11.12
Michael III Shishman Asen — silver — 1.11.12
Metal
Silver
Mint
Tarnovo
Diameter
21 mm
Weight
1.9 g
Rarity
R9between 5 and 15 known

Obverse

Jesus Christ, seated on a throne with a high backrest, with beard and moustache, with a nimbus around His head, in which a cross is inscribed. He is dressed in chiton and sindon. In His left hand He holds the Gospel, and with His right hand He blesses. In the field on both sides of the head are the initials ІС - ХС.

Reverse

Tsar Michael Shishman on horseback, riding to the right, with a stemma with long pendilia. The Tsar has beard and moustache. He is dressed in sakkos and maniakion, richly decorated with large pearls. The ends of the loros are draped over the knees. In His right hand He holds a sceptre topped with a cross, and in His left the reins of the horse. On both sides of the figure is an inscription: to the left МХ, and to the right the abbreviated title цар - Ч, rotated 90°, followed by the letters Б/Л (bulgaromŭ/blagovernŭ). The coin is a variant of 1.11.11.

Reconstructions

Line drawings reconstructing the coin's design from the surviving specimens.

  • Michael III Shishman Asen — 1.11.12
  • Michael III Shishman Asen — 1.11.12

Also struck by Michael III Shishman Asen

Coin photographs and reconstruction drawings from A. Radushev & G. Zhekov, Catalogue of Bulgarian Medieval Coins IX–XV c. (Agató, 1999).

Silver grosh, Tarnovo mint of Michael III Shishman Asen — 21 mm · 1.9 g — The Second Bulgarian Empire