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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orielensis, post: 8296323, member: 96898&quot;]Nice example, [USER=110504]@+VGO.DVCKS[/USER] ! The bléso-chartrain type shows how strange the imagery on medieval coinage could get: if I understand correctly, the obverse on the earliest coins shows a human head, which got more and more blundered over time.</p><p><br /></p><p>My own medieval coin of the week is a little bit clearer in its imagery. Looking at the cross on the reverse, I find it noteworthy that the kings of Cyprus insisted to be kings of Jerusalem as late as the early 1400s. That was a clear case of wishful thinking. </p><p><br /></p><p>King Janus, for whom my coin was minted, spent most of his reign fighting the Genoese, the Mamluks, and the revolting Cypriot peasants. His efforts were largely unsuccessful. They finally resulted in Cyprus having to pay an annual tax to the Sultan of Egypt. It&#039;s fair to consider this a low point of Lusignan reign in the Mediterranean.</p><p><br /></p><p>As is usually the case with these, my coin misses much of its legends, but otherwise it is rather pretty. It was a lucky €6.50 bargain from ebay. Allen Berman&#039;s &quot;Price Guide to Coins of the Crusader States&quot; (2007) lists a value of 60 USD for this type in &quot;fine.&quot; We all know how catalogue values sometimes can be optimistic.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1467043[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus, under Janus, AE sezin, 1398–1432 AD. Obv: + IA[nU]S . R[OI D]Є . , lion of Cyprus rampant l., pellet to l. of lion.&nbsp; Rev: [+ IЄR]LM [Є D]Є C[IP]; cross of Jerussalem. 20mm, 1.45g. CCS 124b.</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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