Catalog
1/4 Tercenario
| Issuer | Sicily, Kingdom of |
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| Year | 1166-1189 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central field bearing a cross pattée enclosed within a double annular border, surrounded by an Arabic legend in Kufic script arranged in concentric circular bands. The design reflects the characteristic bilingual, bicultural artistic tradition of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily under William II. The flan is irregular and shows a significant chip to the right, consistent with hammered coinage of the period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Issued under William II of Sicily, whose reign marked the political apex of the Norman kingdom before the Hauteville line collapsed into the chaos of succession disputes and eventual Hohenstaufen annexation. The billon tercenario and its fractions circulated in a monetary environment that was genuinely trilingual — Arabic, Greek, and Latin all appeared on Sicilian coinage of this period, reflecting an administration that had absorbed Fatimid fiscal structures wholesale rather than replacing them.
The fractional denomination suggests small-transaction demand in a densely commercialized Mediterranean port economy.