I have not been very numismatically active these last two months.
Work has been very busy and I have been occupied by vacation planning and the final plans for my son's wedding (next week).
I recently added four
medieval coins issued by the Kingdom of
Sicily under the Normans to my
gallery. They apparently attracted little interest as they received no views when posted. I was initially drawn to this series because so many of the coins were bilingual, a mix of Arabic and Latin. I currently have a dozen coins from the Normans of
Sicily in my
gallery. The four I added are:
A tiny (less than 8 mm.)
billon kharruba issued by Roger I "Bosso" (Count, 1085-1101), who conquered
Sicily and planted the de Hauteville dynasty there. Tje legends on this coin are entirely in Arabic, albeit with a prominent Greek letter as the major design feature:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-147070An AE follaro issued by
his son, Roger II (Count 1105-1130;
King 1130-1154), the first of the dynasty to be crowned
king. The legends on this coin are a mix of Greek and Latin (no Arabic). These are typically on a
crowded flan with a
weak strike, and this coin compares favorably for the
type:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-147073An AR kharruba (or fraction of dirhem), dated 553 or 554 A.H. (= 1158/59-1159/60 A.D.) issued by William I, "the Bad" (1154-1166). The legends on this coin are only in Arabic.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-147072Finally, an AR 1/4 tercenarius (or possibly half denaro) issued by Tancred (1189-1194). This is the only bilingual Arabic and Latin coin in the group. It was also issued on a
crowded flan.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-147071As always, any thoughts or corrections to the attributions/descriptions would be welcome.
Stkp
