The Siege of Jerusalem, 1187

CNG 109, Lot: 787. Estimate $2000. Sold for $10000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CRUSADERS, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. temp. Sybelle. 1186-1190. BI Denier (17mm, 1.32 g, 11h). Struck during the siege of Jerusalem, 1187. + [TVRRIS] DAVID, Tower of David / + MИO[...]S, view of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Metcalf, Crusades, p. 77; cf. C.J. Sabine, “Numismatic iconography of the Tower of David and the Holy Sepulchre,” NC 1979, pl. 17, 3; N. du Quesne Bird, “Two deniers from Jerusalem, Jordan,” NumCirc LXXIII.5 (May 1965), p. 109; Slocum 288; CCS 51. VF for type. Very rare and of great historical interest.

‘Then Balian and the patriarch went and had the tomb edicule of the Sepulchre which was all covered in silver uncovered; and then they had it taken away to be struck into money to give to the knights and sergeants.’
– The Chronicle of Ernoul

C. J. Sabine has convincingly argued that these very rare anonymous Deniers were an emergency issue struck during the siege of Jerusalem in September 1187. A small Christian force led by Balian of Ibelin mounted a heroic defence against the armies of Saladin, capitulating on October 2nd after the walls were breached. News of the loss of the Holy City sent shock waves through Western Europe and resulted in the Third Crusade.