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Hungary. Béla III (1172-1196). Huszár 72; Toth-Kiss 16.5 var. sigla 0.1/1; Unger 114; Réthy I 98-100; Frynas H.15.24; Lengyel 15/27; Adamovszky A223 ff.
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Hungary. Béla III (1172-1196)
AE denomination unknown (average: 2.88 g., 22.5-27.5 mm.), 3.10 g., 26.41 mm. max., 270°
Obv (concave): REX BELA (on left, running counterclockwise)-REX STS (on right, running clockwise), Two kings seated on thrones facing, each holding scepter and globus cruciger; long cross between. Inverted crescent and three lines in exergue.
Rev (convex): SANCTA-MARIA, Nimbate Madonna facing the front, scepter in right hand, infant Jesus in left. Two crosses above.
Struck in Esztergom. Struck 1172-1182 (per Gyöngyössy, whose dating has not been accepted by later catalogers and appears to be speculative).
Note: “The financially unsuccessful attempt at minting copper coins was carried out exactly as its prototype, the Byzantine coppers. On these copper coins the stiff representation of the two royal figures recalls Byzantine icons, and the symmetry prevailing in the design creates a favorable impression. This direct adoption of the Byzantine model, as well as the whole attempt at coining copper money, may be ascribed to the fact that King Béla III spent a long period of time at the Byzantine court” (Huszár 1963, at 9-10).
Huszár rarity 1, Toth-Kiss rarity 20, Unger rarity 8, Frynas rarity C. Unrecorded variety with unusual ELA in BELA and retrograde first S in STS, as confirmed by József Géza Kiss via personal email communication on December 14, 2018.
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