Catalog
Denier - Guy de Lusignan
| Issuer | Cyprus, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1192-1194 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.77 g |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A stylized two-towered city gateway rendered in a flat, heraldic manner, with a star or mullet positioned centrally between the towers. The design is contained within an inner beaded circle, with the royal legend REX GVIDO disposed around the gate device, and a further beaded border enclosing the composition at the rim. |
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| Additional information |
Guy of Lusignan acquired Cyprus almost by accident. Displaced from Jerusalem after Saladin's victory at Hattin in 1187, he purchased the island from Richard I of England in 1192 — Richard had seized it en route to the Third Crusade from the erratic Byzantine governor Isaac Komnenos. Guy's reign lasted barely two years before his death in 1194, making this issue one of the shortest-lived coinages of any Crusader ruler. His brother Aimery inherited and continued the dynasty, but the billon issues of Guy's own reign carry a distinct typological break from what followed.