Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1565. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $330. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Halberstadt. Ulrich I von Reinstein, Bishop. 1149-1160. AR Bracteate Pfennig (0.88 gm). +SANCTVS•STEPHANVS, nimbate St. Stephan kneeling, being pelted by stones, the Hand of God and a star and cross before him; SVCIRLADO on banner to left. Bonhoff 455; Löbbecke 16; Reichmann 638. Good VF, small edge break, iridescent toning. ($400)

From the Robert Schonwalter Collection.

St. Stephan, the patron saint of Halberstadt, is called the Protomartyr, i.e., the first follower of Christ to die for the new faith. He was ordained one of the first deacons of the church in Jerusalem, his role to deal with the needs of the followers of the new faith. This brought him into repeated confrontations with those opposed to the growing movement, and finally a hostile mob seized him and dragged him outside the city to be stoned to death. Somewhat ironically, he became the patron saint of stonemasons, and it is probably in this role that he was adopted as the favorite patron of the ecclesiastical establishment at Halberstadt.

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