2013. 'an unrecorded bohemian saint christopher penny from montmusard, acre' israel...

IsraelNumismaticResearch8 | 2013

Volume 8 2013

Israel Nu

mism

atic Research

8 | 2013

Contents

5 YIGAL RONEN: An Unusual Aramaic Graffito on an Athenian Tetradrachm

9 REBECCA SACKS: Some Notes on the Depictions of the Achemenid Great King on the Coins of Fourth-Century Judah, Samaria and Philistia

17 CATHARINE C. LORBER: A Mint Imitating Ptolemaic Tetradrachms of ‘Akko-Ptolemais

25 TOM BUIJTENDORP: Tyrian Sheqels as Savings: A New Perspective on the Ramat Raḥel Hoard

31 CECILIA MEIR: Tyrian Sheqels from the ‘Isfiya Hoard, Part Four: Half Sheqels

39 IDO NOY: Head Decoration Representations on Hasmonean and Herodian Coins

55 ISADORE GOLDSTEIN AND JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE: The Small Denominations of Mattathias Antigonus: Die Classification and Interpretations

73 DAVID B. HENDIN, NATHAN W. BOWER AND SEAN G. PARHAM: A Critical Examination of Two Undated Prutot of the First Jewish Revolt

89 GIL GAMBASH, HAIM GITLER AND HANNAH M. COTTON: Iudaea Recepta

105 AARON J. KOGON: New Details and Notes on Some Minimi of Caesarea

109 UZI LEIBNER AND GABRIELA BIJOVSKY: Two Hoards from Khirbat Wadi Ḥamam and the Scope of the Bar Kokhba Revolt

135 YOAV FARHI: Note on Two Types of Lead Currency from Late Roman/Early Byzantine Palestine (Fifth Century CE)

143 ROBERT KOOL, BORYS PASZKIEWICZ AND EDNA J. STERN: An Unrecorded Bohemian Saint Christopher Penny from Montmusard, Acre

159 ADOLFO EIDELSTEIN AND DANNY SYON: An Unknown Token of the Commune of Genoa in Thirteenth-Century ‘Akko

165 DAVID J. WASSERSTEIN: Islamic Coins and their Catalogues IV: Ḥandusis

175 WARREN C. SCHULTZ: Mamlūk Minting Techniques: The Manufacture of Dirham Flans, 1250–1412

184 Corrigendum

185 Abbreviations

Israel Numismatic ResearchPublished by the Israel Numismatic Society

Published by The Israel Numismatic Society

Israel Numismatic Research Published by the Israel Numismatic Society

Editorial Board: Donald T. Ariel (Editor), the late Alla Kushnir-Stein, David Wasserstein, Danny Syon, Ilan Shachar

Text editor: Miriam Feinberg Vamosh

Typesetting: Michal Semo-Kovetz and Yael Bieber,Tel Aviv University Graphic Design Studio

Printed at Elinir, Tel Aviv

ISSN 1565-8449

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The editors are not responsible for opinions expressed by the contributors.

© The Israel Numismatic Society, Jerusalem 2013

Israel Numismatic ResearchPublished by the Israel Numismatic Society

Volume 8 2013

Contents

5 Yigal Ronen: An Unusual Aramaic Graffito on an Athenian Tetradrachm 9 Rebecca SackS: Some Notes on the Depictions of the Achemenid Great

King on the Coins of Fourth-Century Judah, Samaria and Philistia 17 cathaRine c. loRbeR: A Mint Imitating Ptolemaic Tetradrachms of ‘Akko-

Ptolemais 25 tom buijtendoRp: Tyrian Sheqels as Savings: A New Perspective on the

Ramat Raḥel Hoard 31 cecilia meiR: Tyrian Sheqels from the ‘Isfiya Hoard, Part Four: Half

Sheqels 39 ido noY: Head Decoration Representations on Hasmonean and Herodian

Coins 55 iSadoRe goldStein and jean-philippe Fontanille: The Small Denominations

of Mattathias Antigonus: Die Classification and Interpretations 73 david b. hendin, nathan W. boWeR and Sean g. paRham: A Critical

Examination of Two Undated Prutot of the First Jewish Revolt 89 gil gambaSh, haim gitleR and hannah m. cotton: Iudaea Recepta 105 aaRon j. kogon: New Details and Notes on Some Minimi of Caesarea 109 uzi leibneR and gabRiela bijovSkY: Two Hoards from Khirbat Wadi

Ḥamam and the Scope of the Bar Kokhba Revolt 135 Yoav FaRhi: Note on Two Types of Lead Currency from Late Roman/Early

Byzantine Palestine (Fifth Century CE) 143 RobeRt kool, boRYS paSzkieWicz and edna j. SteRn: An Unrecorded

Bohemian Saint Christopher Penny from Montmusard, Acre 159 adolFo eidelStein and dannY SYon: An Unknown Token of the Commune

of Genoa in Thirteenth-Century ‘Akko 165 david j. WaSSeRStein: Islamic Coins and their Catalogues IV: Ḥandusis 175 WaRRen c. Schultz: Mamlūk Minting Techniques: The Manufacture of

Dirham Flans, 1250–1412 184 Corrigendum 185 Abbreviations

143INR 8 (2013): 143–158

RobeRt kool, boRYS paSzkieWicz and edna j. SteRn

An Unrecorded Bohemian Saint Christopher Penny from Montmusard, Acre

RobeRt kool boRYS paSzkieWicz edna j. SteRn

Israel Antiquities Instytut Archeologii, Israel Antiquities Authority Uniwersytet Wrocławski Authority [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

AbstractA hitherto unpublished Czech penny was unearthed during salvage excavations in ̔ Akko’s Crusader-period Montmusard quarter. A detailed analysis of the coin’s inscriptions, iconography and weight suggests that it was minted by the Bohemian king Přemysl-Otokar II in 1248 or later. The coin exhibits the earliest use of the title of rex Boemorum and a previously unobserved contemporaneous veneration of Saint Christopher in Bohemia. It is an important historical document both of Otokar II’s intentions to create a unified Bohemian state and of the multiple contacts between Bohemia and the Latin East in the thirteenth century.

The medieval suburb of Montmusard, located north of the Ottoman wall enclosing ‘Akko’s present-day Old City, played a key role in the growth and urban expansion of Crusader Acre.1 Its development from a rural suburbium in the twelfth century to a densely populated urban area, enclosed by a wall in the thirteenth century, was initially pieced together from charters and medieval maps (Jacoby 1979:39–45; Jacoby 1982:205–217). In recent years surveys and archaeological excavations have further deepened our knowledge of this medieval suburb. These include a thorough reappraisal of Montmusard’s outer and inner walls and the area over which the suburb extended (Kedar 1997:160–164; Pringle 2009:7–24); the existence of a Crusader-period market street lined with shops, revealed in early twentieth century aerial photographs (Boas 1997:182 –186);2 and excavation of substantial Crusader-period remains to the south near Montmusard’s southern/inner wall, among them the vestiges of a thirteenth-century bathhouse and a

1 The city of ‘Akko was called ‘Accon’, ‘Acco’and ‘Ptolomaida’ — as well as ‘Acra’ and ‘Acre’ — by its Frankish (European Christian) population during the Crusader occupation as shown in contemporaneous Latin documents, coins, seals and other inscriptions (Pringle 2009:3). In this article the name Acre is used in place of more common toponym ‘Akko, as is done by virtually all scholars writing about the city during the Crusader period.

2 Possibly identified as the quarter’s ruga Betleemitana (Vitto 2005).

UNRECORDED BOHEMIAN PENNY FROM ACRE

144 ROBERT KOOL, BORYS PASZKIEWICZ AND EDNA J. STERN

monumental building (Smithline, Stern and Stern 2012; Vitto 2005). With the latter came a group of thirteenth-century French deniers and an Ayyubid fals.3

In 2009 a salvage excavation within the same area exposed another massive building dated to the thirteenth century.4 Below its floor, excavations yielded a spectacular hoard of several hundred marble spolia which seemed to have been buried by its owner prior to the fall of Acre to the Mamlūks in May 1291 (Stern 2010:154–159; Stern 2011; Fig. 1).5

Fig. 1. Hoard of thirteenth-century marble spolia (approx. 300 pieces) found immediately below the Bohemian coin discussed in this article (Photo: Howard Smithline)

3 A denier from Dijon, dated c. 1230; a denier from Huriel, Berry c. 1200–1220s; and a fals from the Ayyūbid ruler al-Adil dated to 1210/11 (IAA 106366–106368).

4 The salvage excavation was conducted by Edna J. Stern on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) preceding the construction of a new school building, located roughly 100 m north of the Ottoman wall enclosing Akko’s present-day Old City. The excavation revealed three main periods of activity: Ottoman, Crusader (the twelfth and thirteenth centuries), and Hellenistic. Remains from the Crusader period included remains of a well-built massive building (exposed area: 6×11 m), several stories high. Its stratigraphy and the artifacts recovered during its excavation indicate that it was built during the thirteenth century CE. The fallen building stones and charred beams indicate that the building was violently destroyed by a fire before the walls collapsed, apparently during the 1291 CE Mamluk conquest of Acre.

5 The ‘Marble Hoard’ was intentionally hidden prior to the fall of Acre to the Mamluks in May 1291. Presumably its owner had collected the spolia to re-use them in a structure in Acre, or hoarded them, intending to sell them to a third party.

145UNRECORDED BOHEMIAN PENNY FROM ACRE

Together with the spolia an even rarer find appeared. In the soil wedged between the building’s floor and the spolia a single, enigmatic denier-type coin was unearthed with thirteenth-century ceramic finds. The coin is unknown and does not appear in any reference work or catalogue.6 Its description is as follows (Fig. 2):

Fig. 2. Bohemian penny of King Přemysl-Otokar II from the years 1248 or 1262(?) found at the Hilmi Shafi Educational Campus in ‘Akko (Photos: Clara Amit)Obv: [- - - Z]L·RЄX·BOЄMO (in capital letters). Male bust three-quarters to l., wearing a pointed crown and a cloak, raising a lily-shaped scepter in his r. hand; two annulets at its sides. The left margin partially off-flan, the surface is somewhat worn and covered with a black tarnish or corrosion.Rev.: [- - -]S·CRISTOPHORV[S], a bearded male head facing, two annulets at its sides. The upper margin partially off-flan, in the middle an intaglio outline of the scepter from the obverse, the surface is covered with dark patina.4 , 0.73 g, 18 mm (IAA 106546).

OBVERSE INSCRIPTION

There is no doubt that the obverse Latin legend refers to a ‘king of the Bohemians’ (Rex Boemorum). Unfortunately, the king’s name is almost completely off-flan, and the two surviving final letters of his name cannot be read with certainty, but seem to be either [- - -]CL or [- - -]ZL. Since both the archaeological context and the coin’s style date it prior to Acre’s fall in 1291, four names of five Bohemian kings are relevant to our establishing the identity of the ruler named on the coin:

– Vratislav, king 1085/6–1092– Ladislas II, king 1158–1172– Přemysl-Ottokar I, king 1198–1230– Wenceslas I, king 1228–1253– Přemysl-Ottokar II (contrarex, anti-king) 1248–1249, king 1253–1278None of these names contain a group of letters CL but all have ZL. It seems

the letter fragments visible on the coin were slightly deformed and actually showed the letters ZL (on coins: VRATIZL[VS], WLADIZL[AVS], PREMIZL[VS]

6 We are indebted to Danny Syon who first identified the coin’s possible Bohemian origins. He kindly turned the coin over to the authors for further identification and analysis.


or WENCEZL[AVS). As far as we know, the existing coin types of these five rulers never appear with the full title rex Bohemorum but only with rex. ‘Bohemia’ only appears as a part of a royal title for the first time in 1300, on the Prague groschen, reading WENCEZLAVS SECVNDVS DEI GRATIA REX BOEMIE. The title rex Boemorum, however, was in frequent use before 1300 on royal seals and was probably patterned upon the name of the Czech patron saint, Sanctus Wenceslaus Dux Bohemorum.

The lettering style has refined, soft-outlined, epigraphic capitals, and looks relatively late in date. The style differs totally from the legends on Vratislav’s eleventh-century coins and eliminates him as a possible issuer of the Acre coin. The coin legend is well impressed — an uncommon feature for Bohemian and Moravian pennies. Legends on Bohemian pennies of the twelfth century — and even more those of Přemysl-Ottokar I and Wenceslas I — have only small parts of their inscriptions legible. Moravian pennies of Přemysl-Ottokar I, Wenceslas I and Přemysl-Ottokar II’s times are smaller, different in fabric and missing legends (Sejbal 2008:11–170). Only one Bohemian penny, inscribed with PREMIZL REX and SANCTVS WENCEZLAVS around the type’s heads has very similar lettering (Cach 1974: Type No. 700; see below, Fig. 5). The letter M, however, has a different, uncial form there. Czech numismatists disagree about the attribution of this coin. Cach listed it in his standard catalogue among the coins of Přemysl-Ottokar I, whereas Skalský was in favor of Přemysl-Ottokar II.7

OBVERSE TYPE

The obverse type is not visible in all its details. The male bust, shown in three-quarter view, wearing a pointed crown and a cloak, raising a lily-shaped scepter, has no direct analogies to known Bohemian and Moravian coins. However, a number of individual elements appearing on the coin clearly link it to them. Like the seals and coins of the abovementioned Bohemian kings, the Acre coin also depicts a lily-shaped scepter. The crown on the Acre coin consists of a diadem surmounted with three small lilies. It is arched with two or three pearled rods with an unclear element at the top (a pearl, a cross or even a lily). This differs from crowns depicted on the head of the first king of the Bohemians, Vratislav II (1061–1092, crowned in 1085 or 1086), in the Znojmo Round Church c. 1134, as well as on his coins and in the contemporary Codex Vyssegradensis.8 A somewhat similar pointed crown was used by King Ladislas9 (1140/58–1172). On his seals

7 Skalský 1939:35. Many thanks to Luboš Polanský for this important reference.8 Wihoda 2004:741–742; citation after Mischke 2004 (2006 “pre-print”):21.9 E.g., Cach 1972: Type No. 615. For Ladislas’ seal see http://images.wikia.com/

historica/cs/images/9/97/Kr%C3%A1lovsk%C3%A1_pe%C4%8De%C5%A5_Vladislava_II.JPG (accessed June 23, 2013).


this king is portrayed with a broad-plate triangular crown with three lilies on its top and on both ends. In the famous scene of Ladislas’ coronation by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1158 in Ratisbon, shown on a Bohemian penny, the pointed crown (unclear whether arched or made of plate) is surmounted with a large cross. Its outline is similar to that of the crown from the seal but it differs in details (Sommer, Třeštík and Žemlička 2009:308; Cach 1972: Type No. 600). Přemysl-Ottokar I (1198–1230) and Wenceslas I (1228–1253) wore bow-arched corona clausa on their seals and two-sided coins (Cach 1974: Type No. 703). The Acre type somewhat resembles a penny on which the names of two kings (REX PREMISL and REX VVENCEZLAVS) appear on the coin’s faces. The name of Přemysl surrounds a male bust crowned, looking to his left, at a vertical, large, lily-topped scepter (without a visible hand on it). The shape of the crown is indistinct, but the whole type repeats in a mirrored and simplified manner a representation similar to that shown on the Acre coin. These two kings were Wenceslas I and Přemysl II co-ruling between 1248 and 1249.10 The analogy is not close enough, however, to allow us to extend this attribution to the Acre coin.

REVERSE TYPE

The reverse type of the Acre coin was well impressed and preserved, except for an indistinct reverse die intaglio. Its elaborate bearded head has numerous, more or less close analogies with Moravian coins. There, the bearded image evolved from the late eleventh century on Duke Otto I the Handsome’s pennies minted in Olomouc in 1061–1087 (Šmerda 1996: Type No. 333; Videman and Paukert 2009: Type No. 37), and Prince Svatopluk’s Olomouc coins from 1095–1107 (Šmerda 1996: Type Nos. 358, 369 and particularly No. 376), to an anonymous penny, dated to the 1120s (Videman and Paukert 2009: Type No. 205). On the coins of Otto I and Svatopluk the head clearly represents Saint Wenceslas, patron saint of Bohemia, as it does on the coin of Otto II the Black of Olomouc (1113–1125; Šmerda 1996: Type Nos. 401–402). It is not clear whose bearded face is displayed on a penny of Břetislav II (c. 1092–1110) from an uncertain mint (Šmerda 1996: Type No. 454; Videman and Paukert 2009: Type No. 59) — probably it stands for the duke himself — and on another penny of Otto II, struck jointly with Spityhněv in an uncertain Moravian mint in 1123–1125. These all are coins from Olomouc or uncertain mints. However, a head, with a legend indicating it is Saint Wenceslas, still occurs on a Moravian penny of Břetislav II

10 Cach 1974:32, No. 701 attributed this coin to the joint rule of Přemysl I and Wenceslas I (1228–1230) despite the fact that Skalský 1939:23–40 plausibly suggested its later origin as early as the 1930s. Recently, Roman Zaoral has supported definitely Skalský’s hypothesis that the type was minted in 1247–1249, using the find of this coin from the Crusader town of Cesaire (Caesarea Maritima). See Zaoral 2006a:73–79, and below.


and Vratislav II, struck c. 1092 in Podivín or Brno (Fig. 3; Šmerda 1996: Type No. 452; Videman and Paukert 2009: Type No. 57). A similar-type head also appears on a series of coins from the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, which are not attributed to rulers owing to the lack of legible legends (see Šmerda 1996: Type Nos. 486, 491, 494, 496). Two of them have long, blundered inscriptions around the head (Šmerda 1996: No. 486; Videman and Paukert 2009: No. 73. Šmerda 1996: Type No. 491; Videman and Paukert 2009: Type No. 201), which may contain the uncertain name of a saint.

Fig. 3. Moravian penny of Vratislav II and Břetislav II, Brno, c. 1092, 16 mm (Aurea Numismatika s.r.o., Auction 33 [22.05.2010], No. 954)

Bohemian coins with similar motifs are far less numerous. An elaborate bearded head with the name of Saint Wenceslas appears on coins of Vratislav II during his ducal rule (1061–1085/6; Šmerda 1996: Type No. 163), and somewhat later under Břetislav II (1092–1100; Šmerda 1996: Type No. 166). In sum, a bearded head associated with Saint Wenceslas appeared contemporaneously in Bohemia and Moravia by 1086, but was only used frequently on coins in Moravia until c. 1125. In most cases the bearded face represented Saint Wenceslas, although sometimes it was associated with other saints or possibly a duke.

The bearded head, when used for the first time on coins, was modeled after Byzantine busts of Christ (Hásková 1992:59–68). The obverse of the Acre coin seems to revive the old Moravian tradition, but it refers directly to Byzantine patterns even more distinctly. There are several fairly close monetary types, like the tetarteron of Emperor Nicephorus III (1078–1081), or a two-thirds miliaresion of Romanus IV (1068–1071; Fig. 4; Grierson 1982: Pls. 53:948; 55:967). There is also a strong resemblance to the Christ’s head in the eleventh-century Empress Zoe mosaics in Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople (Lacam 1974:305, Pl. LXXXIIIB). Similar portraits of bearded saints still appear in Byzantine art in the thirteenth century — like that of Saint Theodore the Tyro (Talbot Rice 1958: Fig. 197) — and even c. 1300, as Saint Peter from Novgorod (Fleischer, Hjort and Bøgh Rasmussen 1996:159, Fig. 169). Particularly, the last example shows the distinctly aging face of the saint like on our coin. The Acre coin and other Czech and Moravian coin types differ from these Eastern representations in the central upswept strand of hair, which is broader. Some further analogies can be found in Moravian paintings from c. 1134, in the Znojmo Round Church adorned with frescoes of members of the Přemyslid dynasty. They are displayed standing


facing, with their hair in the upswept hairdo as on the coin. Their faces, however, are young.11

Fig. 4. Byzantine two-thirds miliaresion of Romanus IV, 1.30 g, 18 mm (Pecunem Online Auction 5 [07.07.2013], Lot 426)

REVERSE INSCRIPTION

The marginal inscription clearly indicates that the face depicted on the coin belongs to Saint Christopher. However, this saint was never depicted on other Moravian or Bohemian medieval coins. The most frequently mentioned patron saint on high-medieval Bohemian coins is Saint Wenceslas. He appears on almost every coin reverse issued in Bohemia proper from the early eleventh century onward. Occasionally he is accompanied by Saint Adalbert (Vojtěch), the other patron saint of the realm. Saint Wenceslas also appears frequently in Moravia. During the late eleventh century, the names of the saints Peter and John are often displayed on pennies attributed to Bishop John I (1063–1085) and to the Brno or Podivín mints (Videman and Paukert 2009: Type Nos. 64–72). The busts or heads that accompany these names usually depict the bishop or a prince rather than the saints.12 Saint Peter appears on reverses of pennies of Duke Ulrich of Brno (1092–1097, 1099–1113) possibly because he was the patron saint of the parish church of Brno (Videman and Paukert 2009: Type Nos. 80–85, 87; Černý 2004:163). Also the Moravian bishopric, re-established in 1092, had its cathedral at Saint Peter’s church in Olomouc till 1131 when it was translated to the Saint Wenceslas church in the Olomouc castle (Žemlička 1997:245). Dukes Lutold of Znojmo (1092–1097, 1099–1112) and Conrad II of Znojmo (1123–1128, 1134–1161) showed Saint Nicholas on their coins, i.e., the patron saint of the Znojmo parish church (Šmerda 1996: Type Nos. 446–500; Videman and Paukert 2009: Type Nos. 92–95, 218–219; Černý 2004:163). The above seems to show that the name of a saint on Bohemian or Moravian coins in most cases referred to

11 The exact identities of the figures depicted remain uncertain. See e.g., Merhautová-Livorová 1983:18–26. For ideas by Moravian local patriots, more enthusiastic than critical, see http://www.znojemskarotunda.cz/ (accessed June 23, 2013). For a short summary of research see Wihoda 2010:278–282.

12 A facing, elaborate bust probably stands for Saint John on a coin interpreted as Bishop John’s type IV; see Bobek 1986:43.


the patron of the ruling dynasty and their realm, the mint town, and rarely to the patron of the minting bishop.

No duke or bishop in Bohemia and Moravia was ever named after Saint Christopher during the Middle Ages. Also, very few churches were dedicated to this saint. From the medieval period there is only one known example: the church in Týn-on-the-Vltava, a small town in southern Bohemia in the domain of the bishop of Prague, erected shortly after 1251 (Sudová 2001). Týn never had a mint. No churches dedicated to Saint Christopher existed in Moravian mint towns (Olomouc, Brno, Znojmo, Jihlava, Jemnice, and Podivín).13 That being the case, the coin and the church dedication may have echoed a short-lived popularity of Saint Christopher in the Bohemian lands during the mid-thirteenth century or have expressed the personal devotion of the ruler who issued it. What is clear is that the name of Saint Christopher did not indicate a minting place.

COIN WEIGHT

Although there is no indication that the coin’s mass (0.73 g) was significantly diminished, as a unique find, this weight should probably not be suggestive of some new unknown denomination (Grierson 1975:146). Consequently, the coin’s weight also gives little indication as to its dating. The composition of the coin’s metal has not as yet been examined. We do know that the weight and fineness of coins in Bohemia and Moravia in the twelfth century fluctuated and debasement frequently occurred (Radomerský 1952:137–138). The face value and the name of our coin was certainly denarius in Latin, or peníz in Czech, which is equivalent to the English word ‘penny’. Bohemian pennies from the end of the twelfth century weigh between 0.70 and 1.2 g and tended to increase in weight around 1200. Single anonymous Moravian pennies dated roughly to the 1170s–1190s (i.e., the latest Moravian coins from the princely period) weigh 0.52 and 0.78 g (Videman and Paukert 2009:416–417). The short-lived Bohemian pennies from the first half of the thirteenth century weigh between 0.74 and 0.88 g on average and have a high silver content, around 925–960/1000.14 Contemporary Moravian two-sided coins weigh roughly 0.65 g on average but oscillate within a very broad range.

13 We are much indebted to Roman Zaoral for his advice and references.14 Cach 1974: Type Nos. 700–701; Skalský 1939:24–25. For dating, see Zaoral

2006b:310–313. Two unique coins with the name of Wenceslas, most probably King Wenceslas I (Cach 1974: Type Nos. 702–703), weigh 0.91g (550/1000 fineness) and roughly 0.70 g (incomplete; 940/1000 fineness), see Skalský 1939:25, 31.


DISCUSSION

In sum, the Acre coin contains elements that have analogies with Bohemian and Moravian coins minted between the 1080s and c. 1300. We have no indication as to its mint and only a list of possible issuers. The reverse ‘bearded’ type appears to be associated with Moravia but the weight of the coin may suggest a connection with Bohemia.

Nevertheless, the above deliberations do allow us by virtue of the process of elimination to limit the number of candidates. First, we now know that the coin has little connection to the ‘elaborate head’ coins from the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Our coin is therefore probably later, a conclusion also suggested by the form of the crown and even more so by the lettering of the inscription. In this respect Ladislas II noted above can also be excluded: Despite the letters ZL, which could be a part of his name, that king has no connection to the coin’s iconography. We are thus left with three kings ruling between 1198 and 1278. This later date range also seems to diminish the likelihood of an exclusive Moravian origin for the coin since the bearded saints had disappeared from coins of that country long before (c. 1125). A reference to an obsolete motif is equally probable in both countries and all the more so because the motif was revised according to the Eastern style.

Fig. 5. Bohemian penny of King Přemysl-Otokar I or II, Cach 700, found at Nové Hrady, Czech Republic. 0.92 g, 20 mm (Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 124 [30.05.2005], Lot 1145)

We now return to the penny of the uncertain King Přemysl (Cach 1974: Type No. 700; Fig. 5). The Acre penny differs from it both in the motifs displayed and in the content of its legends. Also, the Acre penny finds no analogies in lettering among coins of the Czech lands. Its fabric clearly differs from other Bohemian and Moravian pennies. The pairs of annulets on both faces of the Acre coin can be observed upon the penny of the ‘uncertain Přemysl’ that links these two types together. One can suggest that these types hardly differ in time and place of issue, and that the king [- - -]ZL from Acre was the same King Premizl. A single provenanced find of the Cach’s Type No. 700 penny in southern Bohemia suggests that both coins were minted in Bohemia.15 If so the choice is between

15 This coin had not been known from finds until recently, when a specimen was offered


the last years of King Přemysl I, around 1230, and the earliest years of Přemysl II, proclaimed king in 1248. The Acre coin definitely appears the most mature stylistically of all coins of the ‘King Přemysl’ series discussed by Skalský and Zaoral. Thus it seems more likely that the coin was struck in the reign of king Přemysl-Ottokar II, either between 1248 and 1249 or after 1253. If so, the Acre penny shows the earliest and probably the only case of the use of the title of rex Boemorum on a coin. In addition, it is tangible evidence of contemporary veneration of Saint Christopher in Bohemia, unobserved previously by scholars.16

These two unique elements of the Acre penny could be associated with Přemysl-Ottokar II’s convoluted rise to power.17 His father, King Wenceslas I, appointed him margrave of Moravia when he was 14 years old, in the spring of 1247. Soon after, rebellious Bohemian and Moravian magnates occupied Prague castle and parts of the country. The king did not abdicate, but neither did he manage to restore his rule. A year later, on July 31, the rebels proclaimed Přemysl their king. By the winter of 1248/9 the old king had regained power in part of the country and had declared his son ‘junior king’. Supposedly this is the background against which the coin of the two kings (Cach’s Type No. 701) was struck, a period that saw a balance of power between father and son, in the first half of 1249. On August 15, 1249, Wenceslas celebrated his own repeated coronation in Prague. Next he forced Přemysl to surrender and to renounce the royal title, leaving him only the Moravian Margraviate.18 After his father’s death, Přemysl-Ottokar II returned to power, in 1253. This time, however, he did not rush to become king again, and styled himself heres or dominus regni Bohemie for a long period, until he was formally crowned on Christmas 1261 (Žemlička 2011:181–186).

When, then, was the Acre penny minted? There are two possibilities: the second half of 1248, when Přemysl was proclaimed anti-king, or in early 1262, soon after he was regularly crowned by the archbishop of Mayence in the

by Munich auctioneers on May 30, 2005. The coin was noted as ‘Aus dem Fund von Nové Hrady’ which lies in south Bohemia, close to the Lower-Austrian border. This Nové Hrady find has been reported nowhere else and this annotation has not been repeated with other coins by these auctioneers, so it may have been a single find and not a hoard. See Lanz München, auction 124, Lot 1145, 0.92 g, 20 mm; http://www.mcsearch.info/record.html?id=9610 (accessed June 23, 2013).

16 The coin also gives the context for the foundation of the Týn-on-the-Vltava church. The coin was discussed during the Third Numismatic Conference in Český Krumlov in September 2012. We are much indebted to all participants and particularly to Roman Zaoral.

17 Přemysl-Ottokar used the first of his names, Přemysl, within the Slavic countries. His use of Ottokar underlined his Austrian heritage and was mostly directed to his German speaking subjects.

18 The chronology of events is debatable. Here we follow Žemlička 2002:169–174.


Prague cathedral. Both the unusual title and the unusual patron seem to speak for the earlier event. However, the Eastern style of the reverse could indicate the opposite: an association with Přemysl’s queen Cunigunde, married shortly before his coronation in 1261, daughter of Rastyslav, a pretender to the Halych throne.

NUMISMATIC AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CONTACTS BETWEEN BOHEMIA AND THE LATIN EAST

The Acre penny is not the first find of thirteenth-century Czech coins in the Kingdom of Jerusalem’s territory. A small hoard of coins was found in Caesarea, south of Acre, at the end of the 1990s. Supposedly the hoard was found in the area of its Roman-period inner port, which during the Middle Ages was partially filled and built up with domestic structures.19 The hoard consists of five coins, three Moravian pennies of Přemysl-Ottokar II as margrave of Moravia (from 1247) and a Bohemian penny and a round halfpenny of the same ruler as the anti-king from 1248 to 1249.20 Further finds of medieval Bohemian and Moravian pennies from the Crusader kingdom have never been reported as far as we know.21 This comes as no surprise since in general hardly any medieval coins from German lands and its eastern neighbors seemed to have reached the Latin East.22 Michael Metcalf noted five stray finds from Aachen (Acre, Beirut), Alsace (Caesarea), Brabant (Acre) and Worms (Acre) and concluded there was a “virtual absence of German coins” in the region in comparison with other European currencies, particularly after the Third Crusade (Metcalf 1995:175). Since then, only two more coins can be added. The first is a late eleventh-century coin of Egbert II, Margrave of Meissen (1060–1090) minted in his Frisian county of Bolsward (North Netherlands), found in the medieval port town of Arsur, roughly 85 km south of Acre, in a twelfth-century context.23 The second is a pfennig from thirteenth-

19 Zaoral and Lampinen 2002:207–209; Zaoral 2006. For the excavations of the inner harbour area see Holum Stabler and Reinhardt 2008.

20 For details on these coins dated to the late 1240s see Zaoral 2006:73–79. Similar type coins are known from Czech hoards mixing Bohemian and Moravian pennies. The halfpenny type was previously thought to be unique but a second type was excavated in Prague’s Old City in 2003, see Zaoral 2006:73 n. 3.

21 Based on an ongoing research data-base of excavation and provenanced coins dated to the medieval period (tenth–thirteenth century) collected by Robert Kool.

22 A huge treasure, comprising some 7,700 coins, was discovered in Turkey in the 1980s, consisting almost exclusively of German coins (except for 41 coins). The latest coin dated to no later than 1190 making its association with Frederick Barbarossa’s abortive campaign during the Third Crusade almost certain. Finds of ingots and pieces of Saldjuq jewelry shows the hoard was carried into Asia Minor but not further. See Klein 1986:205–218; Klein 1987:193–197.

23 The coin (IAA 117288) was excavated among domestic structures including an olive


century Friesach (Carinthia, Austria), the dominant silver currency of the Eastern Alps south toward Venice and east into the Hungarian countryside. This coin was excavated in Acre, not far from the Acre penny find, in a residential area east of the Hospitaller compound.24

Considering the near-complete dearth of German and central European coinage, the presence of Bohemian coins dating to the mid-thirteenth century in the kingdom seems outstanding. Does this reflect a particularly strong involvement of Bohemian nobles, churchmen and non-nobles in the Crusades and settlement in the Latin East? The question is difficult to answer. Judging from the few historical sources at our disposal there seems to have been a relatively small but continuous movement to the Holy Land, particularly of nobles and clerics, from the First Crusade onward. As pilgrims and Crusaders these Bohemians emulated the pious habits of their Western counterparts. In the first half of the twelfth century Henry Zdík, Bishop of Olomouc (1126–1150) went twice on pilgrimage accompanied by Bohemian noblemen and servants. On his return Henry modeled the chapter in his cathedral on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, complete with a fragment of the Holy Cross (Wihoda 2010:181–182). During the Second Crusade (1147–1149) a number of prominent Bohemian nobles fought with the German King Conrad III at Dorylaeum.25 In the 1160s Henry, the brother of duke (later King) Ladislas II of Bohemia (1140–1172) was a guest of the Hospitallers in Jerusalem. During the early thirteenth century, pressing internal affairs within the kingdom seem to have largely sidetracked crusading initiatives. Still, people from Bohemia and Moravia continued to go on crusade or pilgrimage to the East around the mid-thirteenth century. This is clear from a judicial document handed down in the port of Messina in July 1250, around the same period as our coin, which contained a passenger list of the ‘St. Victor’, a ship ferrying Crusaders from Messina to Acre.26 Among the approximately 453 persons on this list, a Czech knight, one suppanus Marcualdus de Bohemia, together with 36 of his socii retainers, constituted the

press installation; our thanks to Oren Tal for allowing us to mention this find.24 For the find (IAA 66485) see Syon forthcoming. On the circulation of the Friesacher

pfennig, see Spufford 1988:133–134. 25 The Bohemian duke’s marshal was killed and his chancellor taken prisoner. Bohemian

troops, led by Duke Ladislas II, reached Nikaia where they met Conrad after the defeat. They came back to Bohemia in the summer of 1148. See Žemlička 1997:233–234.

26 The document appeared originally in Huillard-Bréholles 1861:784–790. A detailed analysis of the document based on newer edition in de Laborde 1875:103a–106a; 770 was published by Kedar (1972:267–279) and reprinted in Kedar 1993: Study XVI. Originally the ship was bound for Damietta in the Egyptian Delta, to join the forces led by the French King Louis IX. But when this turned into a debacle and Louis moved to Acre, the ship’s passengers sued the French ship owners and demanded to be conveyed there. See Kedar 1972:267–269.


largest single contingent on the ship.27 This shows that Bohemian money reached the shores of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the purses of Crusaders and pilgrims originating from the Bohemian kingdom during this period.

No doubt, the appearance of Bohemian silver money around the 1250s in the East also must have been connected to the dramatic increase in Bohemian coinage during this period, resulting from the opening of the rich silver mines on the borders between Bohemia and Moravia. These mines, like the famous Jihlava (Iglau) mine opened in 1220/30, were estimated to have produced roughly four tons of silver annually (Spufford 1988:119). Přemysl-Ottokar II alone, during whose reign our coin may well have been minted, drew roughly 2,000 marks annually in seignorage from these mines.28

Presumably large amounts of this silver either in the form of bullion or coin, like our penny, flowed along the trade route connecting Prague via the Bohemian king’s extensive Austrian possessions as far as Friuli to neighboring Venice and then eastward by ship.29 Tangible evidence of such trading contacts is the rare find of a contemporary Frankish coin struck in Acre (c. 1253–1259) in a hoard found in Upper Austria, near Freistadt along the abovementioned overland route connecting Venice and Prague (hidden after 1276).30 In addition, by the mid-thirteenth century, the military orders active in the Latin East, such as the Hospitallers, Templars, Teutons and the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre as well, possessed large estates in Bohemia and Moravia, and must have contributed substantial amounts of money, besides goods and manpower, from there to the East.

27 The Czech magnate Marcualdus, i.e., Markvart, Markwald, was a suppanus (župan, i.e., a local governor or lord). He seems to have belonged to the north-Bohemian Markvartic noble family (Zaoral 2006a:75–76).

28 The standard Cologne mark consisted of 231 g of sterling silver (0.925%). Thus annually, the king had more than 460,000 g of pure silver at his disposal.

29 For a description of this trade route and extensive contacts with Venice, see Zaoral 2004:126–128.

30 The hoard contained a large number of coins (6,000), silver bars, gold foil and jewelry. Among the coins were several thousand Wiener Pfennige, several hundred Czech coins, dozens of south German, Hungarian and Moravian pennies and bracteates, as well as single coins from England, France, north Italy and ancient Rome. The entire hoard was published in Prokisch and Kühtreiber 2004; for the coins in the same volume, see Alram et al. 2004; and Zaoral 2004:95–132. For other material and written evidence on the trading contacts between Bohemia, Venice and the Latin East, see Zaoral 2006a:77–79.


CONCLUSION

This previously unknown penny may well have been minted by Přemysl-Ottokar II (1248–1278) during his long reign as Bohemian king. No doubt its most prominent feature is its enigmatic use of the rex Boemorum title — apparently the first and only on a Bohemian coin. An explanation for its unusual appearance could be connected to the very beginning of Ottokar’s rule or to his rising political star in the 1250s–1260s. It clearly reflects Ottokar’s image as one of the most powerful rulers within the Holy Roman Empire and fits his aspirations to create a large, unified Bohemian kingdom stretching from the Sudetes in the north to the Adriatic in the south. Its association with another largely unknown reverse type, the bearded Saint Christopher, perhaps the expression of the king’s personal devotion to that saint, or a short-lived devotion to that saint in thirteenth-century Bohemia, makes this coin a historical document of the first order.

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2013. 'an unrecorded bohemian saint christopher penny from montmusard, acre' israel...

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