Description
Silver coin of tsar Michael Shishman (1323-1330)
Obverse: ІС ХС Christ, nimbate, wearing tunic and colobion, seated upon throne, right hand raised in benediction, holds Gospels in left.
Reverse: МХ ЧРЬ The tsar wearing stemma, divitision and loros on horse, riding to right, holds in right hand scepter cruciger.
National Archaeological Institute with Museum
Technical parameters
Metal – copper 999/1000 with silver plating, antique finish
Quality – PROOF
Weight – 15 g
Diameter – 34 mm
Packaging – capsule and luxury cardboard packaging
A type of silver coins, distinguished by their high-class style and careful workmanship, can certainly be attributed to the coinage of the Bulgarian Tsar Michael Shishman (1323-1330), founder of the last royal dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, that of the Shishmans. In terms of artistic quality, they take the first place in the Medieval Bulgarian silver coinage. Their production continued the tradition established during the reign of Tsar Theodore Svetoslav (1300-1321) for minting silver coins with flat flans. The Tsar has been depicted as a horseman on the reverse of Michael Shishman’s coins – an iconographic type introduced in the Bulgarian coinage by Tsar Constantine Assen (1257-1277) and becoming almost permanent on the coins of the Bulgarian sovereigns in the 14th c.