Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Grossetto - Anonymous
| Issuer | Lordship of Lesbos (Mytilene) (Genoese colonies) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1404-1428 |
| 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 | 1.0 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin (uncial) |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) depicted in left profile, standing within a solid beaded or plain inner circle, rendered in the crude but expressive hammered style characteristic of late medieval Genoese colonial issues. The lamb is shown passant, with its head raised, embodying the religious iconography common to Genoese monetary tradition. A circular legend in uncial Latin letters surrounds the inner circle, reading AGNVS DEI, identifying the sacred motif. The overall fabric is irregular, consistent with hand-struck silver coinage of the early fifteenth century. |
| 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 |
The Gattilusio family held Lesbos as a Genoese fief from 1355, and the anonymous grossetti of this period fall within the long rule of Jacopo II Gattilusio, who governed the island from 1404 until his death in 1428. The attribution to Jacopo II rather than his predecessor rests primarily on Lunardi's die analysis — the anonymous nature of the issue makes reign assignment dependent entirely on typological comparison rather than inscribed authority.
Lesbos sat uncomfortably between Venetian commercial interests and expanding Ottoman pressure throughout this period. Jacopo II paid tribute to the Ottomans while maintaining nominal Genoese allegiance — a fiscal tightrope that shaped what little silver reached the mint.