CONSTANTINE IX COPPER COIN - XI CENTURY ( 1042-1055 )

Original copper coin from XI century.

Constantine IX Monomachos copper coin ( 1042-1055 ). Coin set on a sterling silver handcrafted surrounding structure. Necklace made of sterling silver. Coin in copper.

Chain length / pendant : 48cm

Coin diameter :  2,8cm

Made in Georgia

Constantine IX Monomachos reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita chose him as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian. The couple shared the throne with Zoë's sister Theodora Porphyrogenita. Zoë died in 1050, and Constantine continued his collaboration with Theodora until his own death five years later.

Constantine waged wars against groups which included the Kievan Rus', the Pechenegs and, in the East, the rising Seljuq Turks. Despite the varying success of these campaigns, the Byzantine Empire largely retained the borders established after the conquests of Basil II (r. 976–1025), even expanding eastwards when Constantine annexed the wealthy Armenian kingdom of Ani. Constantine accordingly may be considered the last effective emperor during the Macedonian Renaissance.