Medieval Bulgarian Coinage - Ivan Asen II

Ivan Asen II

Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218–1241) is the first Bulgarian ruler from whose reign coins are preserved. It is known that his predecessors Kaloyan (1197–1207) and Boril (1207–1218) minted imitations of Byzantine coins. Although Kaloyan was given the right to mint coins by Pope Innocent III (and Boril inherited the right from him), there are no surviving coins of theirs, and historians assume that Ivan Asen II was the first ruler to actually mint coins.

• Gold perpera - It is the only surviving gold coin, not only of a medieval Bulgarian monarch, but also of any Slavonic ruler of the period. One example was found in 1934 among other coins in the area of Prilep (contemporary Republic of Macedonia). It is now in the National Archaeological Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Its weight is 4.33 g, the diameter is 33 mm, and it is made of 16 carat gold. The shape is slightly hollow. On one side Ivan Asen II and Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki are depicted upright. With one of his hands the Saint gives the Emperor a sword and with the other he is placing a crown on Ivan Asen's head. The inscription is in Bulgarian and abbreviated, and says: "Ivan Asen, Tsar" and "Saint Dimitar". On the other side of the coin is depicted Christ Pantocrator. The inscription is "Jesus Christ, Tsar of the Glory". Due to similarities with the coins of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, it is presumed that the coins might have been minted in the Thessalonica mint, which was at the time under Bulgarian rule.

The uniqueness of Ivan Asen's gold perpera and the peculiarity of its iconography have ledt a minority of researchers to doubt its authenticity. Its peculiarity is the double gesture of Saint Demetrius who simultaneously crowns the Emperor and gives him a sword, an image found in no Byzantine or other Slavonic coins.

• Billon coins - There are around one hundred preserved coins of that type. On one side is the image of the Emperor and Saint Demetrius upright and holding a scepter with a star. On the other side is depicted Christ Pantocrator. These coins were probably minted in the Thessalonica mint. Their weight is between 3.00 and 3.08 grams.