Crusader States, Principality of Antioch. Bohemund III (1163-1201 AD). Billon denier (19mm, 1.0g). Obverse: Bust left, wearing chain mail and helmet with cross ornament, crescent before and star behind, inscription around +BOAMVNDUS. Reverse: Cross, with crescent in second quadrant, inscription around +ANTIOCHIA. From a John Anthony auction, ex @Aethelred Collection. The Principality of Antioch was one of the several states set up by the victorious Crusaders after the First Crusade in 1098 AD. Bohemund was born in 1148, the son of Constance, Princess of Antioch and her husband Raymond of Poitiers. The next year Raymond was killed in battle with Nur ad-Din, the Zengid atabeg of Aleppo (I showed a Byzantine-imitative coin of his recently). Constance tried to retain power for herself but was eventually forced out, and Bohemund took the throne in 1163. Just a year later, he was taken captive in battle by Nur ad-Din, but was allowed to be ransomed and to retain his throne as Nur ad-Din thought that conquering Antioch would be considered a provocation by the Byzantine Empire. (Middle Eastern politics, then as now, could get complicated.) Bohemund continued to rule (give or take the occasional capture by the enemy) until his death in 1201; the whole story is quite lengthy, and you can read the summary here on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemond_III_of_Antioch Reading that, one is amazed at how much of the Crusaders' time was spent fighting each other, rather than any of the various Muslim states. The history of that time is interesting, but the constant conflict of numerous groups, sometimes allied in odd patterns, gets wearisome after a while. What really attracted me to this coin was the portrait. That is clearly a medieval warrior, in helmet and chain mail, and while it's not particularly realistic it conveys the intended message very clearly. This coin cost me $50 in a recent John Anthony auction, which is quite reasonable for this coin in this condition. Share your coins of the Crusaders, or their Seljuk/Ayyubid/etc. opponents.
Great coins - I'm kicking myself for not bidding on the OP coin. Big mistake on my part, it's a great coin.
