CRUSADERS. Antioch. Anonymous. Follis (Bronze, 20 mm, 3.55 g, 12 h), circa 1120-1140. IC - XC / NI - KA within the angles of cross pommetée.
Rev. IC - XC / NI - KA within the angles of cross pommetée. Cf. CNG E-Auction 425 (2018), 642 corr. (
same dies, but with erroneous references and misdescribed as a two-sided cast of Metcalf type 2). Malloy -, cf. 11 = Schlumberger 9 (an anonymous follis with MHHP ΘOY on the obverse and a plain cross on the reverse). Metcalf -. Porteous -. Apparently unpublished. Somewhat rough
, otherwise, about very fine.
From a collection of Arab-Byzantine and Crusader coins, formed in the 1990s.
This very rare piece is somewhat of a mystery. It has been suggested by the cataloguer of the CNG example that it might be a token or amulet, or possibly a contemporary counterfeit of a follis of Tancred. The types, however, are not those of Tancred, whereas the fabric is more reminiscent of contemporary coins of Baldwin II. Based on the similarity to Schlumberger 9, a cast anonymous follis from Antioch, we have attributed it to that city for the time being, but this highly interesting piece is certainly worthy of further research.
