Watch List notes:

France (Provincial), Albi. Early-mid 13th century AR denier (18 mm, 1.05 g, 9 h). In the name of Raimond Bertrand. + RAMVIVMD, short cross with spindle bars / + ALIBMIECI, crozier between two bars; V below. Poey d'Avant 3898; Duplessy 1180; Boudeau 774; Roberts 4253. Lightly toned. Nearly extremely fine.

From the Estate of Benjamin R. Bell.

The Cathar, or Albigensian heresy, was an anti-materialist reform movement that challenged the authority of the Catholic clergy - and by extension, the crown itself - in the south of France. In 1209, Pope Innocent III declared a crusade against the Cathars, inciting the French monarchy with the promise of Cathar properties. After two decades of persecution, by 1229 the Cathars were all but eliminated. The town of Albi where this coin was minted in the early 1200s was the center of the Albigensian heresy.