Catalog
1 Bisante
| Issuer | Famagusta, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1570 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A small figure of Cupid appears at the top of the field above a five-line Latin inscription filling the entire reverse. The lettering, boldly struck but somewhat irregular in alignment, reads VENETORV / FIDES. INVI / OLABILIS / BISANTE / I(F), proclaiming the inviolable faith of the Venetians and identifying the denomination. The reverse composition is purely typographic in character, typical of siege money where inscription takes precedence over iconographic design. |
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| Additional information |
Famagusta's civic coinage was already an anachronism by 1570 — the bisante as a monetary unit had medieval roots in the crusader states, surviving in Cyprus long after the Lusignan kingdom that popularized it had collapsed. This particular issue came at the worst possible moment: the Ottoman fleet under Piyale Pasha and Lala Mustafa Pasha began the invasion of Cyprus that same year, laying siege to Famagusta in September 1570. The city held for nearly eleven months before surrendering in August 1571, making coins struck here among the last civic issues before Venetian Cyprus ceased to exist entirely.