Caption

Denarius of Boleslaw III Krzywousty (prince of Poland; 1107–1138). Obverse: in the beaded border, a knight in chain mail thrusting a spearhead into the jaws of an upside-down dragon. Reverse: in the triple beaded border, an isosceles cross topped with spheres (one with a dot; others unclear due to field blurring), a dot at the intersection of the arms, and one sun between the arms. Allegories of martyrs and knights; motifs include equal-armed cross, crosses, spearhead (issue mark), jaws, chain mail, dragons — Romanesque style; themes of Middle Ages, fight between good and evil, fight against pagans; possible reference to St. Adalbert. ca. 1125–1138. Poland, Kraków. Coin; diameter 11.8 mm; weight 0.33 g.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A64_023

License type

Rights managed

Available size

27.0Mb (1.1Mb) / 10.2in x 10.2in / 3071 x 3071 (300dpi)

Keywords

Denarius Boleslaw III Krzywousty prince Poland 1107–1138 Obverse beaded border knight chain mail thrusting spearhead jaws upside-down dragon Reverse triple beaded border isosceles cross topped spheres dot unclear due field blurring intersection arms sun Allegories martyrs knights motifs include equal-armed cross crosses issue mark chain mail dragons Romanesque style themes Middle Ages fight good evil pagans possible reference St Adalbert ca 1125–1138 Kraków Coin diameter 11.8 mm weight 0.33 g round metallic object worn textured surface showing irregular raised indented areas predominantly silver-gray darker gray shadows subtle warmer metallic highlights set white background.