Coinage Circulation in the Empire of Epiros–Thessaloniki (1204–1261)

This paper investigates the circulation of the coins of the polity of Epiros-Thessaloniki in the first half of the 13th century. It presents the development of the economy of the polity through the use of the largest database of finds containing Epirote-Thessalonian coins ever assembled. It makes use of the FLAME Project’s Digital Cookbook to present map-based visualizations of the locations and quantities of finds that contain coins of the Epirote-Thessalonian polity. This data is brought to bear on many issues of coin attribution, use, and circulation, both macroeconomic and specifically numismatic. Three main conclusions arise from the analysis of the coin data: 1) Even at the height of the political and economic power of the Epirote-Thessalonian power, its coinage was never meant to hold a domestic monopoly as a medium of exchange and store of value and instead it was meant to supplement other existing coinages in circulation; 2) The coinage of Epirote-Thessaloniki was sizeable and accepted enough to be used throughout the 13th-century Balkans, particularly in the wake of the 20-year rule of the Komnenian-Angelid dynasty over the city of Thessaloniki between 1224 and 1244/1246; 3) The wide use of the coinage of Epiros-Thessaloniki alongside the coins of other post-Byzantine polities in the early 13th century, such as the Latin Empire and the Empire of Nicaea, are indicative of the participation of the Empire of Epiros-Thessaloniki in a supra-national monetary system, where its coins would be accepted in different degrees throughout the former Byzantine world; indeed, the mint of Thessaloniki seems to have been uniquely suited to producing coins on several monetary standards for use in different regions of the Balkans at the same time.