Watch List notes:

The Byzantine Empire

Alexius I Comnenus, 1081 – 1118 with associate ruler from 1088. Pre-reform coinage, 1081-1092. Debased trachy 1081-1092, AR 4.46 g. Christ, nimbate, seated facing on backless throne, wearing tunic and colobium, raising r. hand in benediction and holding Book of Gospels in l.; in upper field, two crescents and below, IC – XC Rev. +AΛ – ΞIω – ΔЄCΠtt Facing bust of Alexius, wearing crown and chlamys, holding globus and mappa; on either side, six-rayed star and in upper l. field, Manus Dei. DO –. Sear –. BN
Of the highest rarity, apparently only four specimens known. A flan crack
at 5 o'clock on obverse, otherwise good extremely fine

Ex NAC sale 75, 2013, 822.
When the general Alexius I Comnenus gained the Byzantine throne by marching on Constantinople and forcing the abdication of Nicephorus III (1078-1081), a change of course was both urgent and necessary. Much like the more successful 'soldier emperors' of the late third century A.D., Alexius' vigorous actions assured the survival of the empire, which was then teetering on the brink of collapse.
This trachy of Alexius is particularly interesting due to its rarity and the presence of two large stars in the reverse field. Attempts traditionally have been made to connect such 'stars' with an astrological event that can be attested in ancient sources or confirmed through scientific investigation. The most notable occurrence is under Constantine IX (1042-1055), whose gold histamena with two stars are thought to mark the appearance of a supernova in 1054. A single 'star' on an electrum aspron trachy of Alexius I struck at Thessalonica (D.O. IV 23c) may refer to a comet of 1105/6, but even if correct, that instance is too late for the proposed dating of this trachy, which appears to have been struck in the first decade of Alexius' I reign.