Antioch (?). Temp. Bohémond I or Tancred, 1098-1112. Denier (Silver, 20 mm, 0.84 g, 12 h). [...] // ΠΕΤP / ΟↃ St. Peter standing facing, holding staff in his right hand. Rev. Four hearts arranged in the form of a cross, each containing three pellets; around them, eight Ts. CCS -. Metcalf, Crusades, -. Schlumberger -, cf. XIX, 1 (in copper and slightly differing depictions). Wäckerlin -. Apparently unpublished of great importance. Beautifully toned. Areas of weakness and with a minor edge chip, otherwise, very fine.


The attribution of this intriguing coin remains uncertain, as no published parallel can be identified beyond a single closely related specimen. Even so, the available evidence strongly suggests that it belongs to the Crusader Levant.

The comparable piece was first published by Gustave Schlumberger in ‘Numismatique de l’Orient Latin’ in 1878 (pl. XIX, no. 1). Although that example is struck in copper rather than silver, it shares the same general design, including a standing saint on the obverse and a reverse composed of four hearts arranged in the shape of a cross, each enclosing three pellets.

Schlumberger noted only that his specimen originated ‘from Beirut,’ without clarifying whether this referred to its actual findspot or merely its place of acquisition. He assigned the issue to the earliest coinage of the Principality of Antioch under Bohemond I and Tancred. One of his principal arguments was the group of letters to the left of the saint, which he interpreted as a monogram for Antioch. This explanation is difficult to sustain, however, since the inscription is more naturally read as the Greek abbreviation Ο ΑΓΙ, representing Ὁ Ἅγιος (‘The Saint’). His identification of the standing figure as St. Peter provides a much firmer basis for the attribution, as the apostle served as the patron saint of Antioch and appears on securely attributed issues of both Bohemond I and Tancred (cf. Metcalf, Crusades, 47–62).

Although the evidence remains limited, the present coin is best understood as an unpublished denomination struck from the same series as Schlumberger's copper example. If that series was indeed produced at Antioch, this specimen would represent the earliest known silver issue of the Principality, preceding the introduction of its billon deniers, and would thus be of great importance to the numismatic history of the Crusader states.