Silver Coin of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Second Bulgarian Empire Released by National Bank, Archaeology Museum in Replica Collection

A replica of a silver coin minted by Tsar Ivan Alexander of the Second Bulgarian Empire (r. 1331 – 1371) has become the fifth coin to be released by the Mint of the Bulgarian National Bank and the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in a joint project for a modern-day replica collection of Bulgarian coins from the Middle Ages.

The project includes the reproduction of a total of seven coins from the start of coin minting in medieval Bulgaria which began under Tsar Ivan Asen II (r. 1218 – 1241).

As part of the replica collection entitled “Medieval Bulgarian Coins,” the Bulgarian National Bank and the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia have already released replicas of the gold perpera (a version of the Byzantine gold coin “hyperpyron”) and a copper cup-shaped coin (scyphate) both of Tsar Ivan Asen II; a replica of the silver coin of Tsar Todor (Teodor) Svetoslav Terter (r. 1301 – 1322); and a replica of the silver coin of Tsar Mihail III Shishman Asen (r. 1323 – 1330).

In its announcement on the release of the replica silver coin of Tsar Ivan Alexander, the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology emphasizes both the specific style and the sheer quantity of the monarch’s silver coins.

“Tsar Ivan Alexander (r. 1331 – 1371) was the ruler with the longest reign in the Second Bulgarian Empire. During his rule, the coin minting of medieval Bulgaria carried out mainly by the capital’s mint in Tarnovgrad (Veliko Tarnovo) reached its height in terms of both the quantity of minted coins, and their typological diversity,” the Museum says.

“Two types of silver coins were minted under Tsar Ivan Alexander’s name. They have been found in a great deal of coin hoards not just in the Bulgarian lands but also in the other Balkan countries,” the institution notes.

It adds that the newly released replica is of the earlier of Ivan Alexander’s two types of coins.

“The minting of the first type [of his silver] coins, of which a smaller number of specimens have been established, probably began very soon after Ivan Alexander took the throne in Tarnovgrad in 1331. The coins [in question] were crafted meticulously, carefully engraved seals and clear imagery but in a schematic and crude style,” the Museum elaborates.

Back in August 2020, the other type of Tsar Ivan Alexander’s silver coins which features Jesus Christ and the Tsar with his first-born son and Co-Emperor Mihail IV Asen, was declared “Exhibit of the Month” in the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia, the first time Bulgaria’s largest archaeological museum had made such a selection.

Many of the Tsars of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185 – 1396/1422) minted coins.

Besides the earlier silver coin of Tsar Ivan Alexander mentioned above, the six other coins to be reproduced in the “Medieval Bulgarian Coins” replica collection include:

Two coins of Tsar Ivan Asen II, a gold perpera (hyperpyron) and a copper scyphate (cup-shaped coin);

A silver coin of Tsar Todor (Teodor) Svetoslav Terter (r. 1301 – 1322);

A silver coin of Tsar Mihail III Shishman Asen (r. 1323 – 1330);

The later of the two silver coins of Tsar Ivan Alexander (r. 1331 – 1371), which was declared the Museum’s first exhibit of the month back in August 2020;

A silver coin minted by Tsar Ivan Sratsimir (r. 1371 – 1396) of the Vidin Tsardom, a rump state of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

The Second Bulgarian Empire was formed in 1185 after the successful rebellion against Byzantium of two Bulgarian boyars, brothers Asen and Petar (later Tsar Asen I (r. 1187-1196) and Tsar Petar IV (r. 1185-1197)), the so called Asen and Petar’s Uprising). Both Asen and Petar, as well as their third brother, Tsar Kaloyan (1197-1207) were murdered.

Tsar Ivan Alexander (r. 1331-1371 AD) of the Second Bulgarian Empire was the second longest ruling state leader in Bulgarian history (after Tsar Peter I (r. 927 – 969)). He was a great patron of the Old Bulgarian literary tradition, Orthodox Christianity, and the arts but not a very strong political and military leader.

He did, however, deliver the last big medieval Bulgarian military victory in the 1331 Battle of Rusocastro against the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, one of the concluding episodes of the 7-century-long Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars, with both powers getting conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the follwoing decades.

After he lost his two eldest sons – Ivan (Tsar Ivan Asen IV) in 1349 AD and Mihail in 1355 AD – in battles with the Ottoman Turks, he failed to prevent a number of Bulgarian feudal lords seceding, and on top of that divided the remainder of the Bulgarian Tsardom between his two surviving sons.

His third son Tsar Ivan Sratsimir (r. 1371-1396) received the smaller so called Vidin Tsardom, with the Danube city of Bdin (Vidin) as its capital, and his fourth son Tsar Ivan Shishman (r. 1371-1395) received the rest, the so called Tarnovo Tsardom, with the capital proper of Tarnovgrad (today’s Veliko Tarnovo).

Just two decades later almost all Bulgarian lands, disunited and even warring among themselves, fell prey to the invading Ottoman Turks, ushering Bulgaria into five centuries of Ottoman Yoke (1396 – 1878/1912), signifying a practically irreversible loss of its former great power status of the medieval Bulgarian Empire.

The coins from the Medieval Bulgarian Coins replica collection can be purchased from the Mint of the Bulgarian National Bank through its website mint.bg or by phone order at +359 2 807 18 67.

Also check out these stories about the Medieval Bulgarian Coins replica collection:

Gold Coin of Tsar Ivan Asen II of Second Bulgarian Empire Released by Bulgarian National Bank, Archaeology Museum as Part of Replica Collection

Cup-Shaped Copper Coin of Tsar Ivan Asen II of Second Bulgarian Empire Released by National Bank, Archaeology Museum in Replica Collection

Silver Coin of Tsar Todor Svetoslav of Second Bulgarian Empire Released by National Bank, Archaeology Museum in Replica Collection          

Silver Coin of Tsar Mihail Shishman of Second Bulgarian Empire Released by National Bank, Archaeology Museum in Replica Collection

14th Century Silver Coin of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Second Bulgarian Empire Becomes August 2020 ‘Exhibit of the Month’ in National Archaeology Museum

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Ivan Dikov, the founder of ArchaeologyinBulgaria.com, is the author of the book Plunder Paradise: How Brutal Treasure Hunters Are Obliterating World History and Archaeology in Post-Communist Bulgaria, among other books.

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