Handmade - Sterling Silver (925) - 7 grams - 2.5cm diameter
Collection: Georgian kings
Made in Georgia
The coin with the image of King David the Builder of Georgia, the most revered King in the country's history. This is the only remaining coin with his image that was minted during his reign (1089-1125). The coin is part of British Museum's collection.
Obverse: The image of David the Builder dressed in Byzantine imperial attire, wearing stemma and holding a globus cruciger. The accompanying inscription refers to him as King David.
Reverse: An inscription surrounding a cross lists the extent of David's kingdom "Lord aid David, King of Abkhazians, Kartvelians, Ranians, Kakhetians, Armenians."
No Georgian ruler even equalled the achievements of David IV agmashenebeli (meaning "Builder" or "Restorer"). Reigning from 1089 to 1125, he reunited the kingdom and expelled all invaders, created a flourishing civil administration, army, legal system, Church, feudal hierarchy and secular culture, and made Georgia for the next century the regional power. Exceptionally intelligent, a linguist and a scholar, decisive, self-critical, creative and, above all, able to perceive windows of opportunity. David IV transformed the demoralized rump state he had inherited.
Donald Rayfield, Edge of Empires - A history of Georgia