Sophia, daughter of the magistros, circa 950-1000. Tessera (Orichalcum, 24 mm, 7.79 g, 6 h). O / A/ΓI/O/C – N/I/KO/ΛA/O/C (‘Saint Nicholas’)
Nimbate half-length facing bust of Saint Nicholas, raising his right hand in benediction and holding book of Gospels in his left hand.
Rev. +CO/ΦHA ΘV/ΓAT, MX / MAΓIC/TPW (‘Sophia, daughter of the magistros’) in five lines, decorations above and flanking the last line. Zacos II 704 (same dies) = Campagnolo/Cheynet, Zacos Genève 406. A highly interesting and extremely rare Byzantine tessera of the finest style. Repatinated
, otherwise, good very fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
The style and epigraphy of this tessera allow it to be attributed to Sophia Lekapene, daughter of Michael the Rector, the son of Christophoros and co-emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. Very little is known about Michael the Rector. He held the title of magistros and fathered two daughters. After Constantine VII ascended the throne in 945, Michael was tonsured to remove any claim he might have had to the throne. A later document informs us that Sophia Lekapene was married to Constantine Radenos. It was customary for Byzantine noblewomen to adopt their husband's title (protospatharissa, in Sophia's case), but it seems Sophia preferred to use her father's prestigious title to emphasize her imperial lineage. In Byzantine times, tesserae were primarily used within philanthropic institutions, and it is likely that this piece commemorates a donation from Sophia to a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, possibly to finance a distribution of food (cf. Campagnolo/Cheynet, p. 461)
