Untitled Document
CRUSADERS. Counts of Tripoli. Raymond III. Gold Bezant.
Struck with Kufic Fatimid Legends. (1159-1187 AD) RARE!
Mint Period: 1148/59-1187 AD
Ruler: Raymond III of Tripoli (1140-1187AD)
Comment: Struck in the name of the Fatamid caliph, al-Mustansir.
Reference: Balog & Yvon 5 and 11; Metcalf, Crusades 486 var. (pellets); CCS 9 (Antioch). RR!
Diameter: 21.4mm
Material: Gold!
Weight: 3.9gm
Excellent strike of fine style on full flan!
Obverse: Name and titles of al-Mustansir in pseudo-Kufic script in four lines across field; two pellets above, one pellet below in inner margin; Umayyad Second Symbol in pseudo-Kufic script in outer margin.
Reverse: “Ali” and Shahada in pseudo-Kufic script in four lines across field; two pellets above, one pellet below in inner margin; bismillah, mint formula, and AH date in pseudo-Kufic script in outer margin.
All coins are a guaranteed ancient, authentic originals
and not reproductions of any kind!
Bezant is a medieval name for a gold coin. Gold coins were not minted in early medieval Western Europe, silver and bronzebeing the currency of choice, but they did circulate there in small numbers, originating from the Mediterranean region. Islamic and Byzantine gold coins, in particular, were highly prized. These gold coins were commonly called bezants, taken from the word Byzantium, the Latinized form of the original Greek name (Βυζάντιον or "Byzántion") of the capital, Constantinople, where the gold coins typically came from, and were associated with, since the time of Constantine I.
The first bezants were Byzantine solidi. Later, the term referred to gold dinars minted in the Islamic Caliphates that were themselves modelled on the solidus. Bezant was used by Venetians to refer to the Egyptian gold dinar and Marco Polo referred to the bezant in the account of his travels to East Asia.
The County of Tripoli (1109–1289) was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today is known as northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse as a vassal of Baldwin I of Jerusalem.
Raymond III of Tripoli (1140 – 1187) was count of the crusaders’state of Tripoli (1152–87) andtwiceregentof the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1174–77, 1184–85).Raymond succeeded to the countship after the assassination of his father, Raymond II, in 1152. In his campaigns against the Muslims he was taken prisoner by their leader Nureddin in 1164 but was released in 1172. When the new king of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV, took the throne in 1174, Raymond successfully claimed the regency as the first cousin once removed of Baldwin, a minor and a leper. The regency ended when Baldwin came of age (1177), but Raymond continued to take an active part in the kingdom’s affairs.
Raymond’s rivals soon induced Baldwin to exile him for two years (1180–82). The growing threat from the Muslim leader Saladin, however, finally led to the designation of Raymond (early in 1184) as regent again for the dying Baldwin’s infant nephew, who had been crowned king (1183). There was a proviso, however, that if the new king, Baldwin V, should die prematurely, the succession should be determined by the pope, the Holy Roman emperor, and the kings of England and France. When Baldwin IV died in March 1185, Raymond immediately concluded a four-year truce with Saladin.
When Baldwin V died in the summer of 1186, his mother Sibyl and her husband Guy of Lusignan took the throne in violation of the proviso of the regency. Refusing to acknowledge Guy, Raymond withdrew to Tiberias (on the sea of Galilee), a stronghold belonging to his wife Eschiva of Bures, princess of Galilee. When Saladin resumed war against the kingdom, Raymond at first maintained a separate truce. Finally, however, the slaughter of some of Guy’s supporters in the Galilee area by Muslims to whom Raymond had granted a safe conduct impelled Raymond to a reconciliation with Guy. Raymond was wounded in the Battle of the Horns of Ḥaṭṭin (July 4, 1187), after which he retired to Tripoli and died shortly thereafter.
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All items listed are guaranteed
to be authentic ancient originals and as described.
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No returns
without cogent reason. All returns must be pre-authorized.
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