Jerusalem Pilgrim Coinage

CNG 105, Lot: 1068. Estimate $5000. Sold for $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CRUSADERS, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Jerusalem Pilgrim Coinage. 12th century. BI Denier (18mm, 0.82 g, 3h). + (retrograde horizontal S)И ΛCΛPOΛ (sic), cross pattée / Medieval façade of the al-Aqsa Mosque: façade with three arched entries; above; central pedimented tower surmounted by cross; on either side, sphere surmounted by pellet-in-crescent. Metcalf, Crusades, pp. 78-9; Schlumberger –; Seltman, Coins, fig. 1-2; Slocum 284 var. (obv. legend); CCS 49. VF, toned, some porosity. Extremely rare, five examples noted by Seltman, none in CoinArchives.

Associated with the pilgrim traffic in Jerusalem and the Crusaders, especially the Knights Templar, who oversaw the local Christian holy sites there, this extremely rare denier most likely served as a token coinage used specifically on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The obverse legend, here crudely rendered, referred to the s(a)n(cta) aerea, or "holy area", which was the Haram esh-Sharif, or Temple Mount. At the time, this area was dominated by three Umayyad structures: the Qubbat al-Sakhrah, or Dome of the Rock; the Qubbat al-Silsilah, or Dome of the Chain; and the al-Masjid al-‘Aqṣā, or the al-Aqsa Mosque. It is this last structure that is represented on the reverse of this denier. Following the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the mosque was renamed as the Templum Solomonis, or Solomon's Temple, to distinguish it from the Dome of the Rock, now known as the Templum Domini, or Lord's Temple. First converted into a palace and stable, the al-Aqsa Mosque was transformed in 1119 into the headquarters of the Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici, or Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. More commonly known as the Knights Templar, they were a Christian military order, their mission, as stated by the Order's founder, Godfrey de Saint-Omer, was to provide protection for Christian pilgrims on their journey in the Holy Land. Initially, a very poor order, who relied largely on donations, the Templars soon grew to be a wealthy and powerful organization, largely through the advocacy of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Within a decade of their founding, the Templars became a favored charity throughout Christendom and, by papal bull, could cross its borders unhindered and were exempted by papal bull from taxation and all authority except that of the Pope. When the Muslims under Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1187, following the Battle of Hattin, the Templars were force to evacuate their headquarters on the Temple Mount and flee to relocate northward. This withdrawal initiated the loss of Templar control in the Holy Land and their eventual destruction by Pope Clement IV and the French king, Philip IV, in 1307.