TYPE Byzantine Empire, Manuel II Palaiologos (1393-1423 AD), silver eighth stavraton (1/16 hyperpyron) of Constantinople DESCRIPTION . Obv: Bust of Christ nimbate Rev: Bust of emperor in loros REFERENCE: SB 2553, Ben 335.1 GRADING: AVF / VF, crude, darkly toned, scarce ORDER INFO: B3019, $150 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 lowest fractional version - is what was left on the "flagship currency" level of the nominal hyperpyron.