Uglješa Mrnjavčević helmet and sceptre

Uglješa Mrnjavčević ruled Serres and the eastern territories of the fragmented Serbian Empire as a despot following the collapse of centralized authority after Stefan Dušan's death in 1355. His coinage was struck entirely independently of the nominal Serbian throne — a practical assertion of autonomous rule rather than a ceremonial one. The helmet and sceptre type is among the more distinctive issues from the successor lordships of this period, when half a dozen magnates were simultaneously striking silver in their own names across the Balkans.

Uglješa was killed at the Battle of Maritsa in September 1371, along with his brother Vukašin, in a catastrophic defeat against Ottoman forces that effectively ended Serbian resistance in Macedonia for a generation.