Bohemond IV denier

This just showed up.


Principality of Antioch. Bohemond IV, first reign, 1201-1216. Denier, Class K.
Obv. Mailed and helmeted profile; +BOAMVNDVS
Rev. ANTOCHIA.
Malloy (1st ed.) p. 220, 79a.
For deniers of Antioch, I gravitate toward Bohemond IV and the half-Cilician Armenian usurper, Raymond Roupen, who punctuated his reign. Where the Frankish Levant is concerned, I really like the earlier 13th century generally, for what was happening on cultural and as well as political fronts --for instance, the window of sometimes marked cooperation between the Franks and local Muslim polities.
Regarding the helmet with the nose guard, this is a survival from the conical Norman helmets with the same feature, well known from the Bayeux Tapestry. Here's a link to a page from the Morgan Crusader Bible, demonstrating that it was in use in France as late as the middle of the 13th century.
https://www.themorgan.org/collection/crusader-bible/46

 

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Very nice.


Bohemond III (1163 - 1201 A.D.)
BI Denier
CRUSADERS, Antioch.
O: +B(•)AHVHDVS, helmeted and mailed bust left; crescent before, star behind.
R: + ANTI ♣ OCHIA, Cross pattée; crescent in second quadrant, trefoil in legend.
19mm
.98g
Metcalf Crusades 400; CCS 69 Class E or F. Malloy 69/70

 

I don't have one yet. There were several conical helmet/noseguard types from Antioch in the last Leu auction. Maybe I will bid on one in Leu 16 which closes in 18 days. Already have a number of bids in on items from the Rhakotis collection.

 

@ancient coin hunter, examples of Bohemond III are all over the market. As @Mat's conscientious citation of Metcalf as well as Malloy implies, the variants of Bohemond III (note the duration of the reign) are Legion. ...Malloy uses Metcalf's classes, along with citing him at every turn.

 

Noice! This type is a MUST for any guy that grew up reading about knights the crusades:

 

One of my favorite coins:

 

Yours is looking like Bohemond V (1233-52), Metcalf's Class O, Malloy p. 231, 126. Along with what Malloy notes (lower weight, with "neat style, standard S and B, a three pellet A, and highly seriffed letters"), it's distinctive for the broader, rounder helmet.
What makes this so cool (I needed one) is its contemporaneity to the so-called '6th [major] Crusade,' Louis IX's first.

 

Fine example! Congrats!

 

Crusader - Antioch
Bohemond III minority, r. 1149-1201 (1149-1163)
AR Denier, 16.53mm x 1 gram
Obv.: +BOAMVNDVS, bare head right, linear portrait with shaped V and A
Rev.: +ANTIOCHIA, cross pattee in circle with shaped A
Ref.: Malloy Antioch 34, De Witt 4085-7


Crusader - Antioch
Bohemond III majority, r. 1149-1201 (1163-1201)
AR Denier, 17.81 mm x 0.86 grams
Obv.: +BOANVHDVS, helmeted head left, crescent left, five-pointed star right, mail composed of crescents
Rev.: +ANTIOCHIA, Cross pattée, crescent pointing downwards in the second angle
Ref.: Malloy Antioch 69

 

Two solid examples, @FitzNigel, but I'm really liking the minority issue. The legends are what they are, but the strike on the profile is truly exceptional.
...What the heck, here's mine. Only for contrast with how good yours is!

 

...Uh-oh. The madness is now upon me. Found some pics I didn't remember I had, on a neglected thumb drive. First, a Raymond Roupen (1216-1219), the usurper who interrupted Bohemond IV's reign. He was a nephew of Bohemond IV, and a great-nephew of the king of Cilician Armenia, Levon I --well known for his AR trams. (Raymond got his name from the Armenian royal dynasty, the Rupenids.) Despite the iconic trams of his great-uncle, he kept up the same design as Bohemond III and IV ...and V. Metcalf's classes are continuous for the whole range.

Obverse legend: +RVPINVS, with obverse stops of three small pellets.
Reverse: the usual, slightly blundered.
Malloy Antioch (thanks, @FitzNigel; much better way to cite Malloy than by page number) 95a, noting the variant stops.
And this is likely the better of my two examples of Bohemond V, as per @Ryro's terrific example (not to mention much better pics).


Right, Malloy 126, Class O.

 

Very nice. That's probably the quintessential type from the Latin East that shouldn't be missing from any medieval collection.


Principality of Antioch, Bohemond III, BI denier, 1163–1201 AD. Obv: +BOANVIHDVS (slightly blundered for BOAMUNDVS); helmeted head left in chain mail, flanked by crescent and star. Revers: + AHTIOCHIA (slightly blundered for ANTIOCHIA); cross pattée with crescent in upper right angle. 17.5mm, 0,88g. Ref: CCS, 65/66.

 

Here is my Bohemond III bare head denier, struck under regency of Constance and Renaud de Châtillon .

Look at Boemond's graceful mustache . I have not yet seen such an variation , except on this coin.

 

Solid example, @Orielensis. And Very well put. ...And they're still considerably easier to find than issues either of Bohemond III's minority or the 12th-c. royal issues of Jerusalem. ...And they're just that resonantly iconic. To @Ryro's comment, I don't know of an earlier issue that features a helmeted knight in chain mail. Let alone as convincingly as this! In that sense, as far as medieval 'engraving' (right, mostly with punches --almost like old-fashioned printing type) is concerned, the motif is a collective masterpiece of medieval economy.

 

Thanks for contributing another truly solid example, @VD76. Yeah, guessing there was some intentional irony going on, but I have to like your visual interpretation of what was probably an accident with the die-punching.

 

Few rare variations in my collection .

Six pointed star .



Crescent left downward



A pellet instead of a star on the right .

 

A terrific and (for me, anyway) enligtening range of variants, @VD76. Many Thanks!!!

 

Mine Bohemond IV denarius

 

poor thing. All locked up and alone like that. Maybe it needs some air holes to breath.

lovely coin @Henry112345!

 

Really solid, sit-up-in-your chair example, @Henry112345. (...Although I tend to share @FitzNigel's concern!)