Lucca was among the earliest Lombard-controlled cities to strike gold tremisses in its own name, doing so under nominal Byzantine overlordship at a moment when northern Italian civic identity and Lombard political reality were pulling in opposite directions. The "R above" variety is understood to denote a specific workshop or moneyer initial, distinguishing it from the plain type within an already small production series.
Lucca was among the earliest Lombard-controlled cities to strike gold tremisses in its own name, doing so under nominal Byzantine overlordship at a moment when northern Italian civic identity and Lombard political reality were pulling in opposite directions. The "R above" variety is understood to denote a specific workshop or moneyer initial, distinguishing it from the plain type within an already small production series.