Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 1828. Estimate $100.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Ancona. Anonymous issues. Late 13th-late 14th centuries. AR Bolognino (0.92 g, 12h). (Horseman riding right) DE · ΛN · CON (annulet stops), A; four stars around / + · PP · S · QVI · RI · (annulet stops), Λ C V S around pellet. CNI XIII 66 var. (obv. legend); Biaggi 40. Good VF, toned.

From the Leonard O. Greenfield Collection.

From the depths of the Dark Ages, the city of Ancona on the northeast coast of Italy had honored a certain Judas Cyriacus as its patron saint. Local tradition claims that Cyriacus (or Quiriacus) was a Jew of Jerusalem who had a fateful meeting with the Roman empress Helena around 327 AD. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem when she encountered Cyriacus, who revealed to her the location of the True Cross upon which Christ was crucified. After guiding the empress to the holy relic, Cyriacus converted to Christianity and became Bishop of Jerusalem, only to suffer martyrdom years later under Julian the Apostate.

The city of Ancona is said to have received his saintly relics, minus his head. This took place under another empress, Galla Placidia, around the middle of the fifth century, and has been the city’s patron Saint ever since. His head still rests in a church in the town of Provins, France, compliments of Henry de Champagne, who brought it from Jerusalem during the crusades.