Follis - Richard of Salerno

Richard of Salerno governed Edessa as regent for Baudouin II from 1104 to 1108, following Baudouin's capture by the Artuqid ruler Sokman at the Battle of Harran — a catastrophic Crusader defeat that killed or imprisoned much of the Edessan nobility. Richard struck his own coinage during this regency, which was itself a political assertion of autonomous authority in a county whose rightful count was sitting in Muslim captivity.

Harran in 1104 effectively ended the first phase of Edessan expansion and forced a defensive posture that shaped the county's coinage policy for years afterward.