A Hoard of Alexius I Comnenus Nomismata from the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals

This article examines a hoard of pre-reform debased nomismata of Alexius I Comnenus from the collection of the Russian archaeologist, Nikolay Kirillovich Minko (1880–after 1920), which was acquired by the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals (Chelyabinsk, Russia) in 1923. Minko purchased this hoard of uncertain origin during his archaeological excavations in the region of Sevastopol in 1909–1911. The hoard contains 4 histamena and 13 tetartera, all from the pre-reform period (April 1081–August 1092). Both histamena and tetartera has been attributed to Constantinopolis. All histamena are from the second coinage (1087–1092). Of the tetartera, 11 pieces are from the first coinage (1081–1087), and two pieces are from the second. The group of coins from the second coinage allows one to date the hoard to 1087–1092 or a little later. The hoard clearly demonstrates further degree of debasement of gold nomismata (both histamenon and tetarterion) struck in alloys containing almost no gold during the reign of Alexius I. Considering the almost complete absence Alexius I’s coins in Crimea, the Don and the North Caucasus, it can be assumed that this hoard of Byzantine silver coins most likely originated from Cherson—or its surrounding region—where, during regular archaeological excavations at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, a silver tetarteron and three histamena of Alexius I were recorded. The unique (at least for the region under consideration) hoard is of great significance for understanding the currency pattern of the 11th-century Byzantine coins in the Theme of Cherson.