Leu Numismatik AG
Auction 4 25 May 2019
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Byzantine Seals. Seal (Lead, 31 mm, 20.91 g, 12 h), Konstantinos Skleros, proedros, 2nd half of 11th century. [M]/I-X/A St. Michael standing facing, holding trefoil scepter in his right hand and globe in his left. Rev. +KЄ RΘ,/T Cω Δ૪,/KωNCTA[N]/TINω ΠPω/ЄΔPω Tω/CKΛHPO ('Lord, aid your servant Konstantinos Skleros, proedros') in six lines. W. Seibt: Zwischen Identifizierungsrausch und -verweigerung: Zur Problematik synchroner homonymer Siegel, in: in C. Ludwig (ed.): Siegel und Siegler. Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, p. 141-145, no. 12. A wonderful, clearly struck seal in exceptional condition. About extremely fine.
Werner Seibt showed that several members of the famous Skleros family were named Konstantinos in the 11th century, and at least some of them must be contemporaneous. It is likely that all seals with a standing St. Michael on the obverse belong to the same person: our seal, which mentions the high court dignity of proedros (Seibt 12), a similar type with an abbreviated name (Seibt 11) and three other pieces with differing legend compositions (Seibt 8-10). Seibt 13, a seal with a half-length bust of St. Michael on the obverse, apparently belongs to the same official, but it comes from an earlier stage of his career, when he was kouropalates. It also mentions the military office of doux. The seal published by Seibt only had a fragmentary legend, but a recently surfaced example in fact confirmed his reading (Obolos 11 (2018), 776, but erroneously dated to the late 10th century).
Werner Seibt showed that several members of the famous Skleros family were named Konstantinos in the 11th century, and at least some of them must be contemporaneous. It is likely that all seals with a standing St. Michael on the obverse belong to the same person: our seal, which mentions the high court dignity of proedros (Seibt 12), a similar type with an abbreviated name (Seibt 11) and three other pieces with differing legend compositions (Seibt 8-10). Seibt 13, a seal with a half-length bust of St. Michael on the obverse, apparently belongs to the same official, but it comes from an earlier stage of his career, when he was kouropalates. It also mentions the military office of doux. The seal published by Seibt only had a fragmentary legend, but a recently surfaced example in fact confirmed his reading (Obolos 11 (2018), 776, but erroneously dated to the late 10th century).