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1 Grosso - Balsa III Durdevic
| Issuer | Principality of Zeta |
|---|---|
| Year | 1403-1421 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | m BALSE GEORGIS STRACIMIR |
| Reverse description | Standing frontal figure of Saint Lawrence (San Laurentius), the patron saint, depicted nimbed and in ecclesiastical vestments, holding a palm frond in one hand and a gridiron in the other, consistent with his standard iconographic attributes. The saint is shown within a beaded or rope border, rendered in a simplified Gothic-Byzantine style. A circular legend in Latin uncial script surrounds the figure, invoking the name of the saint. The overall style closely follows Venetian and Ragusan grosso prototypes of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Balša III ruled Zeta under persistent Ottoman pressure, spending much of his reign maneuvering between submission and resistance before finally ceding Shkodër to Venice in 1420, just a year before his death. This grosso was struck during that unstable tenure — a small Adriatic principality trying to maintain the apparatus of sovereignty, coinage included, while its territory contracted around it.
The Jovanović references place this among the better-documented Zetan types, though die studies for this series remain thin compared to contemporary Ragusan or Venetian issues.