Catalog
Denaro - Dominic Gattilusio
| Issuer | Lordship of Lesbos (Mytilene) (Genoese colonies) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1449-1459 |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Reverse description | Within a beaded inner circle, a bold Gothic letter D occupies the central field, rendered in a prominent and decorative uncial style consistent with Western European die-cutting conventions of the mid-fifteenth century. The letter serves as an initial monogram for the issuer's personal name, Dominicus (Dominic). The surrounding legend is punctuated by stars and runs around the full circumference of the coin, identifying the ruler and his title. The overall die work is irregular, as is typical of hammered coinage from the Genoese Aegean lordships of this period. |
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| Reverse lettering | * DOmInICVS * G D D (Translation: Dominic Gattilusio, Lord (of Mytilene)) |
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| Additional information |
Dominic Gattilusio held Lesbos for barely a decade before the Ottomans under Mehmed II closed in. The island fell in 1462, just years after this issue, when Niccolò Gattilusio — Dominic's successor — was strangled on Mehmed's orders following his surrender of Mytilene. The Gattilusio family had held the island since 1355 as a Genoese fief granted by the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos, making their bronze small change an artifact of a remarkably long-lived Latin presence in the eastern Aegean.
Lunardi G15 is among the scarcer Gattilusio issues, reflecting the compressed timeframe of Dominic's rule.