NIKEPHOROS III BOTANIATES (1078-1081)

Obv.:	Bust of Christ, legend: IC XC
Rev.:	Latin cross with crescents and lillies

HISTORICAL NOTES: The inability of the feeble emperor Michael Doukas to face mounting external and economic threats prompted the rise of the elderly general Nikephoros. However, this ended being a brief reign marked by continuous power struggles, finally ending with the ascension of another member of the military aristocracy - the young but powerful Alexios Komnenos. Having retired to a monastery, Nikephoros was thus one of the few Byzantine (or Roman in general) emperors to peacefully relinquish the throne.

NUMISMATIC NOTES: The delicate balance between nominal and intrinsic values for gold (and other precious metal) coinage was always among the keys to monetary stability. The apparent mid-11th c. rise of gold prices threatened this, as it promoted hoarding gold out of circulation. Nikephoros' radical response was to halve the intrinsic value (pure gold content) of the gold nomisma down to about 8 carats fine. But this only further sent the economy into a tailspin, and it was not until Alexios' monetary reform several years later that the state's fiscal situation started to stabilize.