SIZE COIN 10 MM

WEIGHT GRAMS

CONDITION WORN

SILVER COIN

CROSS WITH CROWN FINE

This medieval silver coin dates from the end of the Byzantine era about 600 years ago, at a time in which many European kingdoms and countries gained increasing autonomy or independence, and new empires began to evolve. The coin was issued under the authority of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368–1437).

Design:
• Obverse: fourfold coat of arms with Arpadian stripes twice and Brandenburger eagles twice
• Reverse: cross divides four crowns

About Sigismund of Luxembourg
Sigismund of Luxembourg was regarded as highly educated, and spoke several languages including French, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Latin. He founded the Order of the Dragon, and among its first members was the prince of Wallachia, Vlad II. When Vlad II joined the order in 1431, he was given a new patrymic: Dracul, the Romanian word for dragon. Therefore, his son Vlad III was known as the Son of the Dragon, or Dracula. The Crusader cross on the reverse was a symbol often used by order members, and the real-life Dracula would later be the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula novel. Sigismund was one of the driving forces behind the Council of Constance that ended the Papal Schism (a split within the Roman Catholic Church), however, it also led to the Hussite Wars that dominated the later period of Sigismund's life.