This is not my area of normal collecting but I spent a little time with this coin from my odds and ends box. I think I found a match in Malloy's catalog. 1.4gm 18.10mm Malloy Jerusalem 32 B Guy De Lusignan 1186-1190 That is one of the first Medieval I tried to attribute, so please let me know if I got it correct or if I missed it.
An interesting and historically significant crusader issue. On the obv it should read: + REX GUIDO D; bust facing, wearing crown with trefoils, pellet to l and r. On the rev: + E IERVSALEm; Church of the Holy Sepulchre with rounded dome. Further reference: Schlumberger III 25, Saulcy IX 4, 5, Metcalf 628. There are a few hypotheses about the origin and circumstances of this issue: 1. It might be a heavily debased denier minted at Jerusalem for King Guy between his coronation in the summer of 1186 and his capture at Hattin in July 1187. 2. It might be an issue of necessity, minted under his authority at the siege of Acre around 1189-1191. 3. It might be a pougeoise issue, minted in the Holy Land for Guy but for use in Cyprus where he was instated as Lord with Richard Plantagenet's support in 1192, an issue of similar scope and struck at probably the same time with that of Henri de Champagne when he began minting his copper coinage at Acre. 4. It was minted in Cyprus for Guy as Lord of Cyprus between 1192 and 1194. Any of these possibilities might be true, with some being more likely than others. For instance the minting during the siege of Acre by a crusader coalition is not very likely as the conditions in the crusader camp were hard and not very suitable for a minting operation. Also the written sources mention nothing about such an endeavor. The minting of these copper coins during the reign of Guy as King of Jerusalem before Hattin is, again, not impossible, but not very likely, as the kingdom had its immobilized billon coinage started under King Amalric in the 1160s. The type was continued after the death of Amalric in 1174 by his heirs until around 1187 and then re-started by either Henry of Champagne or Aimery de Lusignan in Acre around 1195-1197, and kept as the Kingdom's coinage until at least the 1230s. The more likely of the hypotheses are 3 and 4, or even a combination of both: a type that started around May 1192 or even earlier(?) alongside the coinage for Henri, after the crusaders had regained Acre in July 1191, and then was moved to Cyprus as the official coinage of Guy as Seigneur. There are 3 variations of this type, which might suggest a more consistent use. They were also found both on the crusader mainland and in Cyprus.
