Schulman b.v.
Auction 365 22 Oct 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Gigliato n.d, Silver Lerna (?). Partially blundered legends. King seated facing holding sceptre and globe ✠ REOBERT DEI GRA IIR ET SICII REX. Rev. ornate cross with lis in angles ✠ COMES PEMOIC ET MOREA LEERII.Schlumberger –; Metcalf –.This enigmatic coin is clearly imitating the Gigliati of Robert of Anjou, king of Naples. The legend is blundered but almost fully readable, and names the king on the obverse. However, the reverse legend mentions a 'comes .... Morea' and ends with LEERII or LEERN. The Morea was the medieval name for the peninsula of the Peloponnese. If we accept the issuing authority as a 'Count of the Morea' then LEERN can be understood as a mint name Lerna, an ancient city in Argos.
As the Gigliati of Robert of Anjou date from 1309 this coin must have been struck after 1309. Going by this date this example could have been struck by the lords of Argos and Nauplia, but the legend fails to mention the ruler's name. As he is named 'count' on the reverse Louis d'Enghien, count of Brienne and Conversano, and John d'Enghien, count of Lecce are both possible candidates. We know that Louis was sent to the Morea around 1370 by the Prince of Achaia, and that John was granted permission from the Queen of Naples to gather an army in Greece to conquer back his ancestral lordships in the Peloponnese. This connection to the kingdom of Naples, the coins of whom this piece imitates, makes John d'Enghien perhaps the most plausible candidate as the issuing authority. It is not unlikely that a limited number of locally struck Gigliati were issued to pay for the army John was raising. That army would likely have been familiar with the Gigliati of Naples and would have preferred to be paid in this denomination.3.88 g. Excessively rare, possibly unique Very fine +
As the Gigliati of Robert of Anjou date from 1309 this coin must have been struck after 1309. Going by this date this example could have been struck by the lords of Argos and Nauplia, but the legend fails to mention the ruler's name. As he is named 'count' on the reverse Louis d'Enghien, count of Brienne and Conversano, and John d'Enghien, count of Lecce are both possible candidates. We know that Louis was sent to the Morea around 1370 by the Prince of Achaia, and that John was granted permission from the Queen of Naples to gather an army in Greece to conquer back his ancestral lordships in the Peloponnese. This connection to the kingdom of Naples, the coins of whom this piece imitates, makes John d'Enghien perhaps the most plausible candidate as the issuing authority. It is not unlikely that a limited number of locally struck Gigliati were issued to pay for the army John was raising. That army would likely have been familiar with the Gigliati of Naples and would have preferred to be paid in this denomination.3.88 g. Excessively rare, possibly unique Very fine +