Crusaders - Kingdom of Jerusalem. Second Phase. 12th century. Gold Bezant. Imitating the Fatimid Dinar of al-Amir. Acre mint. When the Christian Crusaders conquered the Jerusalem, they began issuing valuable pieces of gold for trade. At the time, the most popular trade coinage were the gold dinars of the Muslim Fatimid Empire which bordered them. These imitation dinars were known in the west as Bezant which was named after the Byzantine Empire which acted as a middle between the precious gold coinage and supplied from the East and the West of Europe where gold was very scarce. Given the Crusaders poor grasp of Arabic, naturally the legends were corrupted. In addition their gold was slightly debased as well at a lighter weight compared to the original Dinars.
that's an interesting coin LS! here's a AE initiative coin issued by christians from about the same time period as yours.... HUNGARY, Bela III, 1172-1196 AD, Arabic style Pseudo-Arabic legends on both sides. 24 mm, 2.4 g interesting that they called them "byzants". i thought the term byzantine for the eastern roman empire din't show up till centuries after our coins, is that not the case? or were they refering more to the ancient city than the empire?
COOL!! Love Crusader coins!! (Sold off all of mine years ago) Hmm, I bet @panzerman has one (or more of those)
They were roughly called bezant by Western Europe given that they came from the East which they often associated with the Byzantine Empire. Of course the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Christian territories of the Levant had nothing to do with Byzantium.
that's interesting, so the term goes back to medieval times anyway, i thought it was much more recent for some reason. thanks LS!
Cool coin. Most Crusader coins I see have some kind of shield, or lion on them. And possibly all or most of their coins are debased.
You hit a home run with that coin! I'm a big fan. Here's the Miami Marlins home run monstrosity to celebrate your awesome grand slam purchase. Go Fish! Death to the NY Mets!
