Watch List notes:

Cyprus - AE Bezant 1570, Copper, Coinage struck during the Venetian rule of Cyprus, INVASION OF THE TURKISH FORCES OF SULTAN SELIM II St. Marc's lion, date below. Rev. 5 lines of text, Putto above.Schlumb. 7.14, Montenegro p. 870.The Turkish forces of Sultan Selim II invaded Cyprus in July 1570. General Marcantonio Bragadin defended the city of Famagusta with 6.000 garrison troops against 100.000 Turks with 1.500 cannons. Bragadin put up a heroic struggle lasting well beyond the most optimistic assumption against far superior enemy numbers. On 1 August 1571 Bragadin surrendered on the terms Westeners, including himself, had safe passage off the island. During the surrender ceremony the Ottoman general Lala Mustafa Pasha accussed Bragadin of murdering Turkish prisoners and hiding munitions. Bragadin was imprisoned for two weeks, and shortly after flayed alive. His skin was stuffed with straw and sent to Sultan Selim II as a trophy. Bragadin's skin was later stolen from Constantinople's arsenal in 1580 by the Venetian seaman Girolamo Polidori. He brought it back to Venice, where it was received as a returning hero. The skin was preserved first in the church of San Gregorio, then interred with full honors in the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo, where it still is.3.72 g Very fine/Very fine +