59, Lot: 187. Estimate $100. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CRUSADERS. Lusignan Kings of Cyprus. Janus. 1398-1432. Billon Sixain (18mm, 1.01 gm). Struck 1404-1406. +IANVS ROI DE, rampant lion left with spiky mane; pellet behind head, eagle(?) below / [+IER'M E DE CIP], Jerusalem cross. Metcalf, Lusignan pg.124-125; cf. CCS 124-125. VF, rough surfaces. Rare.

The sixains of Janus were an emergency coinage struck during a period of hostility with the Genoese. They were demonetized in 1406, causing great resentment among those left holding them. metcalf notes several varieties with secret marks on the obverse, most known from only one or two examples. The present specimen has a mark that does not appear to be any of the types listed by Metcalf (animal head, ax head, I and recumbent S), and resembles an eagle with out-spread wings.