CNG 84, Lot: 1777. Estimate $200. Sold for $270. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Salerno. Tancredi. King of Sicilia, 1190-1194. Æ Follaro (14mm, 1.79 g, 2h). Castle façade within quadrate frame; pellet to left and right of central tower [and outside each side of square] / Large TA/–/(Rx ligate) across field; pellets to left and right of TA and Rx. CNI XVIII 6-8; Travaini, Monetazione type 402; MEC 14, 461-5. VF, dark green patina.

Tancredi, the illegitimate son of Ruggero III, had made one prior attempt to usurp the throne before he successfully siezed control of the throne upon the death of his uncle, Guglielmo II in 1189. Crowned king the following year, his coup was supported by the chancellor and his officials in opposition to his step-aunt, Costanza, and her husband, the Holy Roman emperor, Enrico II, and most of the Sicilian nobility. Though Tancredi was a capable soldier, his reign was beset by persistent warfare: first by Richard I of England and Philip II, who sought to relase Richard’s sister, Joan, the widow of Guglielmo II, from Tancredi’s imprisonment; then, by Costanza and her husband, both of whom sought to wrest away the throne from Tancredi. In the subsequent war, the town of Salerno, hoping to win Tancredi’s favor, offered to hand over Costanza. Trancredi refused, opting instead for papal acceptance of his crown. While in the process of making generous provisions for those towns which sided with him, Tancredi died in 1194, only a few days after the death of his son and heir, Ruggero III. Tancredi’s second son, Guglielmo III, briefly ruled in succession, but was easily deposed by Enrico VI, ending Norman rule.