TYPE Byzantine Empire, Manuel II Palaiologos (1393-1423 AD), silver half stavraton (quarter hyperpyron) of Constantinople (Bendall type 71: scarcerĘ"Pistos" series, ca. 1405-15), 3.56g DESCRIPTION . Obv: Bust of Christ nimbate, IC - XC (no sigla) Rev: Bust of emperor, Greek circular legend, +MANUIL EN HRISTO THO PISTOS (partial) REFERENCE: SB 2551, DO 1483, Ben 71 GRADING: VF, weaker area, toned, scarce ORDER INFO: B3017, $165 Manuel's rather long reign saw lengthy attempts to forge lasting alliances and secure help from the West (he even restored to regent power in the capital a former usurper nephew, John VII, during his long Western sabbatical), as well as to restore Byzantium as much as possible in the wake of the Ottoman defeat at Angora (1402) - but all to little avail, and the crude and rather limited coinage output in a way can attest to that. In particular, gold was gone from the monetary repertoire, and the silver stavrata - here in the first fractional version - is what was left on the "flagship currency" level of the nominal hyperpyron.