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1 Follis - Stephen III
| Issuer | Naples, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 821-832 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | SCS IA (Translation: Saint Januarius (San Gennaro)) |
| Reverse description | A cross pattée on a two-stepped base occupies the center of the field, with the letters S and T flanking the cross to the left and right respectively, referencing Duke Stephen III. The design is set within a dotted or beaded border, and the crude, hammered execution is consistent with the provincial Byzantine-influenced coinage of the Duchy of Naples in the early ninth century. |
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| Additional information |
Stephen III ruled Naples as duke during a period when the duchy maintained an awkward semi-independence, nominally under Byzantine suzerainty while increasingly managing its own affairs against Lombard and later Arab pressure. The follis coinage of this period represents one of the earliest indigenous copper issues from Naples, borrowing Byzantine denominational conventions while the duchy's political ties to Constantinople were already fraying at the edges.
The MEC XIV attribution places this among the foundational pieces of Neapolitan numismatics — a series with notoriously difficult die attribution given the crude striking conditions of the ducal mint.