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Author Topic: Slavonian banales  (Read 2488 times)

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Offline moonmoth

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Slavonian banales
« on: April 13, 2008, 04:40:35 pm »
Greetings!

I bought this Slavonian banales denarius from Forum in 2006.  I would like to write it up, but there is nothing useful on the web, as far as I can see .. in fact my searches regularly bring up the Forum Auction I bought this coin at.  Forum described it simply as a silver banales denarius from Slavonia, c. 1300.  It is 15mm across and weighs 0.66 of a gramme.

Can anyone pin this down a bit more accurately, please?  What's the creature on the obverse?  Are those owls on the reverse?? The legend and how it should be described would also be useful.  I aim to add it to one of my holed coins pages.

Thanks!
"... A form of twisted symbolical bedsock ... the true purpose of which, as they realised at first glance, would never (alas) be revealed to mankind."

Offline dpaul7

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2008, 05:27:21 pm »
Hello!

The animal on the obverse is a Martin.

I have 2 of these in my gallery:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1775

dpaul7
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https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=17252

Offline moonmoth

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2008, 06:15:55 pm »
Thanks!  That's very helpful.  Mine is like your first example, Stephen V.
"... A form of twisted symbolical bedsock ... the true purpose of which, as they realised at first glance, would never (alas) be revealed to mankind."

Offline wileyc

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2008, 07:14:00 pm »
     hmmmm A Martin on the coin, that is a unusual animal, I have seen them on occasion out here in the western U.S., Fierce, small, with a valued pelt, I wonder what chacteristic of the Martin might allow them to use it for representation on a coin

cw

Offline dpaul7

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2008, 08:06:11 pm »
Hello again!

A martin was used as a "royal" fur.... you can see it on many old royal portraits!

dpaul7
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https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=17252

Offline moonmoth

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2008, 01:59:13 am »
I think that should be "marten" rather than "martin," actually.  See this Wikipedia page, where it says, among other things, that their local name has been adopted as the name of the national currency of Croatia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marten

"... A form of twisted symbolical bedsock ... the true purpose of which, as they realised at first glance, would never (alas) be revealed to mankind."

Offline Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2008, 08:25:22 am »
Could it have been used as a royal emblem? Maybe a parallel to the Stuarts using the Jacobite Rose (which is almost spineless) with the motto 'Rosa Sine Spina'.
Robert Brenchley

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Offline j.berta

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2008, 04:45:42 pm »
These Slavonian denars were the currency of the duke ruling over Slavonia autonomously and bore the characteristic representation of the Patriarchal cross, with sun and moon and two royal heads on each side, on the obverse and a running marten between two stars on the reverse, with MONETA REGIS P SCLAVONIA (moneta regis pro sclavonia, king's coin for Slavonia) around.  During the whole time of their validity (c.1255-1384) they retained these figures. Kingdom of Slavonia was only one of titles of a king and usually it was term for the whole Croatia. The area at the time was a Hungarian possession, which was later heavily disputed.
It was a currency coined in silver by the viceroy/civil governor (ban) on behalf of the Hungarian king (and sometimes coined also by Hungarian dukes) and was denominated officially denarius banalis or moneta banalis or simply banalis (banovac in the Croatian language). This silver currency was coined for the first time c.1255 by ban Stephen, from the family Guth-Keled/Guthkeled/Gutkeled. About that time money was forged only by the Royal Hungarian Chamber which gave that right to mint for the first time to Stephen, ban of whole Slavonia between 1248-1260. In 1256, ban Stephen established the first mint of money in Pakrac (mentioned by the name "camera de Puchruch" in king Bela IV's registers). In 1260, the mint was displaced from Pakrac to Zagreb. In the mint of Zagreb the currencies of silver of the Hungarian rulers are coined uninterruptedly from year 1260 to 1384 (as "denarius zagrabiensis"). This money was particularly appreciated due the purity of the silver in which he was coined, by the beauty of its engraving as much as by its quality in general. With this currency it was possible to be bought in all the center of the Europe of that time, because was a convertible currency.

The legends are:
MONETA REGIS P SCLAVONIA (common)
MONETA B REGIS P SCLAVONIA (moneta Belae regis pro sclavonia, scarce)
MONETA DVCIS P SCLAVONIA (scarce)
MONETA REGIS P VNGARIA (rare)

Initials on the Arpad Dynasty coins are:
King Bela IV (1235-1270):
o - o
lily - lily
bird - bird
h - R (Ban Henricus Nemetujvari, 1267-1270)

King Stephen V (1270-1272)
S - R (Stephanus Rex
R - S (Rex Stephanus)

King Ladislaus IV (1272-1290)
R - L (Rex Ladislaus)
L - R (Ladislaus Rex)
S - L (Ban Stephanus Babonich - Rex Ladislaus, 1280-1282?)
R - R - L (Ban Radoszlav - Rex Ladislaus, 1286-1288)

King Andrew III (1290-1301)
R - A (Rex Andreas)
A - R (Andreas Reax)
S - A (Ban Stephanus Babonich - Rex Andreas, 1300-1301)
R - bird (Rex Andreas - Ban Stephanus Babonich, 1300-1301)
A - bird (Rex Andreas - Ban Stephanus Babonich, 1300-1301)

Best regards,
Jozsef

Cibalia

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2008, 01:11:35 am »
I have been away so missed this post. Nice to see my favourite local coin getting a write up. As stated by Joe these are of very good 'soft' silver, which is a contrast to the contemporary Hungarian coins. Because of that I usually find them damaged in some way.
Thanks Joe for the simplified reference. There is a book in our local library dealing with these but it's a whopping fat thing in Croatian with few images.

Cibalia

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2008, 01:13:38 am »
     hmmmm A Martin on the coin, that is a unusual animal, I have seen them on occasion out here in the western U.S., Fierce, small, with a valued pelt, I wonder what chacteristic of the Martin might allow them to use it for representation on a coin

cw

The little Marten was used almost as small change in the fur trade. Locally it is called a KUNA which is our currency today and also appears on our coinage.

Offline moonmoth

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Re: Slavonian banales
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2008, 01:27:21 am »
Thanks, Joszef, for that interesting exposition.  It seems that Slavonia was part of the Roman Pannonia, but had a complicated later history as a province.

"... A form of twisted symbolical bedsock ... the true purpose of which, as they realised at first glance, would never (alas) be revealed to mankind."

 

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