Denaro - Francis I Gattilusio

Francis I Gattilusio received Lesbos in 1355 as a personal gift from Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos — payment for helping him reclaim Constantinople from the usurper John VI Kantakouzenos. The arrangement was formalized through Francis's marriage to the emperor's sister Maria, making him simultaneously a Genoese lord and an imperial brother-in-law. His coinage reflects that ambivalence: billon issues struck for a Latin lord governing a predominantly Greek island under nominal Byzantine suzerainty.

Lunardi G21 is among the more frequently documented of the Mytilene series, though surviving examples in better condition remain scarce given the coin's small module and the realities of everyday Aegean commerce.