Catalog
Tremissis - Sico
| Issuer | Principality of Benevento |
|---|---|
| Year | 817-832 |
| 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 | Round (irregular) |
| 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 | Frontal facing bust of Prince Sico rendered in the Lombard-Byzantine style, occupying the central field. The effigy displays a schematized bearded face with large stylized eyes, surmounted by a diademed crown adorned with a row of beaded pellets. The bust is draped and cuirassed, with cross-pommée details visible at the shoulders. A circular Latin legend surrounds the bust, reading SICO P - RINCE. The overall execution is characteristic of early medieval Beneventan hammered coinage, with bold, somewhat crude relief typical of the period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field features a cross potent on steps, rendered boldly in high relief in the Lombard-Byzantine tradition. Flanking the cross shaft are the initials S and C in the field, which on certain varieties appear retrograde and/or inverted, serving as the monogram of Sico. The cross is surmounted by a smaller cross-crosslet finial. A circular Latin legend ARCHANGELVS MICHAEL surrounds the central device. The design reflects the strong Byzantine ecclesiastical influence prevalent in Beneventan tremissis coinage of the early ninth 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 |
Sico seized the principality of Benevento in 817 by blinding and deposing his predecessor Grimoald IV — a characteristically Lombard method of neutralizing a rival without technically committing regicide. His coinage continued the debased gold tremissis tradition inherited from the Lombard kingdom, which itself had absorbed late Byzantine monetary practice after the Lombard conquest of much of Italy in the sixth and seventh centuries. The electrum composition reflects the chronic gold shortage afflicting southern Italian mints throughout this period, not a deliberate alloy choice.