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Crusaders, Kingdom of Jerusalem (Acre), 1268 - 1291
From the collection of Alex G. Malloy. Ex Paul Balog Collection. Ex John J. Slocum Collection. Mr. Slocum was in the American diplomatic service in the Holy Land and collected rare and unique coins in the early 1960's. On October 2, 1187, Jerusalem was surrendered to Saladin. the Sultan agreed to a ransom of ten bezants for men, five for women, and one for children. Those who could not pay were to be sold into slavery. Henry II of England's treasury in Jerusalem, established for his use in a pilgrimage or crusade which never came to pass, was used to purchase the freedom of many of the poor but at least 3000 inhabitants were enslaved. The ransomed marched away in three columns. Some went first to Tripoli, where they were denied entrance and were robbed. Many went to Antioch, Cilicia, and Byzantium. Others went to Egypt, and were permitted to board ships heading for Europe.
For the next 100 years the Kingdom of Jerusalem, its capital now at Acre, clung to life controlling most of the coastline of present day Israel and southern and central Lebanon, including Ascalon, Jaffa, Arsuf, Caesarea, Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, some interior fortresses, and suzerainty over Tripoli and Antioch.
In 1291, Acre, the last major Crusader stronghold, was taken by Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil. He was far less merciful than Saladin 100 years before; much of the Frankish population was massacred or sold into slavery, such that Khalil could proclaim, "A pearly white Frankish woman couldn't sell in the bazaar for a penny!"
After Acre fell, the Crusaders moved north to cities such as Tortosa, but these fell too and they were forced offshore to Cyprus. With the loss of the island of Arwad in 1303, the Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist on the mainland.
This coin was struck for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, probably at Acre, c. 1268 to 1291, long after the city of Jerusalem had been lost.
SH32085. Bronze AE 19, cf. Malloy CCS p. 83, 55; hybrid imitation with combined Latin and Arabic characteristics, VF, weight 1.310g, maximum diameter 18.8mm, obverse hexagram (imitating Ayyubids of Aleppo), blundered illiterate imitation of Arabic script; reverse + blundered illiterate Latin? legend, cross moline, small St. Andrew's cross in each quarter, within circle of large dots; uneven strike but among the finest of the few known; of great rarity; SOLD
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