Catalog
Dinar 'Sword Type' - Stefan Uroš IV Dušan
| Issuer | Serbia (medieval) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1331-1355 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan depicted enthroned facing, wearing a crown and imperial robes with stylized drapery, holding a sword horizontally across his lap in both hands. The figure is rendered in the Byzantine hieratic tradition, seated upon a ornate throne with architectural elements visible below. A Latin legend encircles the enthroned effigy within a beaded border, partially legible on this hammered flan. The overall composition reflects the Byzantine-influenced iconographic programme of the medieval Serbian court coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Christ Pantokrator enthroned facing, nimbate, clad in flowing robes with draped folds rendered in the Byzantine manner, holding the Book of Gospels in his left hand. The figure is framed within a mandorla or architectural canopy supported by columns, with the sigla R and V (or N) appearing in the lateral fields flanking the throne. A beaded border runs along the coin's periphery. The iconographic type closely follows contemporary Byzantine imperial coinage conventions. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Dušan's so-called "Sword Type" dinar belongs to the period of his most aggressive territorial expansion, during which he conquered much of Byzantine Macedonia, Epirus, and Thessaly. In 1346 he crowned himself "Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks" at Skopje, an act that required him to simultaneously elevate the Serbian Church to a Patriarchate — without Constantinople's consent. Byzantine ecclesiastical authorities responded by excommunicating the entire Serbian church.
The coinage of this reign is complicated by significant die variation and regional mint activity, with issues struck at multiple centers across a rapidly expanding empire whose administrative coherence lagged well behind its military reach.