John I Tzimisces, 969-976. Seal (Lead, 31 mm, 16.39 g, 12 h). +ЄMMA[NOVHΛ]
Facing bust of Christ, wearing nimbus cruciger, raising his right hand in benediction inside fold and holding book of Gospels in his left.
Rev. +IⲰAnn’ [Єn XⲰ AVTO]CRAT, R, Facing bust of John, wearing crown with cross and pendilia, divitision and jeweled chlamys, holding globe surmounted by patriarchal cross in his right hand and rayed cross in his left. Unpublished in the standard references, but cf. DO Seals 67, Zacos/Veglery 73 and Leu Numismatik, Web Auction 29 (2024), 2791 (all with different obverse legend and bust type). Very fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
Two types of seals have been published for the emperor John Tzimisces. The first type mirrors the iconography of the emperor's gold coinage, with the image of Christ on the obverse and the emperor, wearing a loros, being crowned by the Mother of God on the reverse (DO Seals VI 66, Zacos/Veglery 74). The second type features the bust of the emperor alone on the reverse, holding a globe surmounted by a patriarchal cross and wearing a chlamys (DO Seals 67, Zacos/Veglery 73, and Leu Numismatik, Web Auction 29 (2024), 2791). Our seal appears to be of a new type, differing in two significant ways. Firstly, it portrays the emperor wearing a loros instead of a chlamys. Secondly, it features the name 'Emmanuel' in Greek in a half-circle above Christ, rather than the usual Latin legend. The name 'Emmanuel' also appears on the seals of John's successor, Basil II, and our seal proves that this innovation was already conceived during John's reign.
