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A Beautiful Dinar From a Beautiful City: Ragusa


Curtisimo

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Here is a coin from Ragusa / Dubrovnik to kick off the Medieval section.  Testing out with some photos from my trip to the city as well. 
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Medieval Croatia
Republic of Ragusa
Anonymous AR Dinar, Dubrovnik mint, struck ca. AD 1337-1438
Dia.: 18 mm
Wt.: 1.11 g
Obv.: St. Blaise standing facing, holding cozier and raising hand in benediction
Rev.: IC – XC; Christ Pantokrator standing facing with mandorla
Ref.: D&D 6.4.1

 

Photos

1EA15FC4-D736-497A-8D39-E1734F12D87E.thumb.jpeg.75852551fbd307ed0b2e6e6e85a2b77c.jpeg

Depictions of St. Blaise on display in various places in the city  

B16DBCF9-1657-481C-ACBA-D2B1D106C2F3.thumb.jpeg.e4ea69ea7104108b8d735ee0ae35ac17.jpeg

Game of Thrones fans (if there are any left after Season 8 🤮) will recognize this city as King’s Landing

4DE3450B-B86E-49E7-A177-6FD52CBC7604.thumb.jpeg.e0f61c4aafbc933d58cd29718b9e9be7.jpeg

A truly beautiful place

A71B6FF3-0774-4EC5-89CD-CCB8952B3F31.thumb.jpeg.8e07448a7460c293532625a1e29ac336.jpegThe Rectors Palace: this is where the coins of Ragusa were struck after 1435. The location of the earlier mint (where my coin was struck) is not known. 

B4AE0DD8-A0C9-4BDB-A173-BD2D01F80E52.thumb.jpeg.f354a29dacb0d660a28e317602077141.jpeg
A pretty epic bar that you get to by passing through a tiny little door in the medieval wall. Excellent views!

Edited by Curtisimo
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Hi @Curtisimo, handsome dinar and some great Dubrovnik shots. Croatia has been increasingly on our travel itineraries. We first visited Dubrovnik as a cruise day trip. Since that introduction we’ve ferried across to Split and environs from Ancona. More recently we took the bus from Trieste across Istria to spend time in Pula. Not quite Italy, but similar in many ways (great food, warm people, amazing history, art and architecture) and not as crowded.

Edited by Etcherdude
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Very, Very cool coin, @Curtisimo, along with your terrific, inherently eloquent complementary pics from your trip.  

I've only been to Europe once, in 1973, on a family trip when I was 11.  Usual suspects; what was then West Germany (where we sponged off of relatives), with all-too-brief forays into France and southern England. 

But it would be great to see this part of --please, stay with me-- Illyria.  (Pedantry Ensues.  You Were Warned.)  It's really registering how this part of Europe remained that integral to the* continent, from Roman Emperial times (witness the emperors from the later phases of the 'Anarchy' to Constantine), through the medieval centuries, to, thank you, the present day.

I especially need how the coin, with its combined Latin and Byzantine legends and motifs, echoes Venetian grossos from the early 13th century.  And how this combination finds an eloquent, if partial reply in the Romanesque and Gothic architectural elements of the Palace.  (In the German empire, anyway, some of the earliest Romanesque church architecture (11th c.) coincides with the appropriation of lots of Byzantine influence ...noticeably, for one collective example, in Salian coins.)

*(please read, an otherwise very small, if not geographically fictional...)

Edited by JeandAcre
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Thanks for all the very kind words @Etcherdude and @JeandAcre. 🙂

Croatia was probably my favorite place I’ve ever been and Ragusa / Dubrovnik was a real highlight. 
 

The city was founded by refugees of the Roman city of Epidaurum (modern Cavtat) after the incursions of the Slavs and Avars forced them to abandon that city in the early 600s. If you look at the panorama photo I posted in the OP the rocky part on the right is where the original settlement was. (Where the GOT Red Keep was CGI’d in). That part of the city was originally not fully connected to the mainland and was easy to defend. One of the possible origins of the name Ragusa is “sitting on the rock.” A Slavic population settled on the mainland opposite Ragusa and named their settlement Dubrovnik. Eventually the channel between the settlements was filled in which is where the Main Street of the city is today. Pretty cool. 
 

The inhabitants never forgot their Roman origins and maintained a Senate of Patricians and a consul which eventually became the Rector. They fought off the Venetians in 948 which they attributed to the help of St. Blaise which is why he is on the coins. Even when Venice held hegemony over the city it was tenuous and sporadic. 
 

I read a whole book on the city before I visited which I greatly enjoyed. 🙂

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On 5/24/2022 at 5:13 AM, Curtisimo said:

Here is a coin from Ragusa / Dubrovnik to kick off the Medieval section.  Testing out with some photos from my trip to the city as well. 
741A780F-93D1-4DEE-B60E-FD9E8E45F3A5.thumb.jpeg.ccdabfdf427e537af8ecf50695f4d567.jpeg

Medieval Croatia
Republic of Ragusa
Anonymous AR Dinar, Dubrovnik mint, struck ca. AD 1337-1438
Dia.: 18 mm
Wt.: 1.11 g
Obv.: St. Blaise standing facing, holding cozier and raising hand in benediction
Rev.: IC – XC; Christ Pantokrator standing facing with mandorla
Ref.: D&D 6.4.1

 

Photos

1EA15FC4-D736-497A-8D39-E1734F12D87E.thumb.jpeg.75852551fbd307ed0b2e6e6e85a2b77c.jpeg

Depictions of St. Blaise on display in various places in the city  

B16DBCF9-1657-481C-ACBA-D2B1D106C2F3.thumb.jpeg.e4ea69ea7104108b8d735ee0ae35ac17.jpeg

Game of Thrones fans (if there are any left after Season 8 🤮) will recognize this city as King’s Landing

4DE3450B-B86E-49E7-A177-6FD52CBC7604.thumb.jpeg.e0f61c4aafbc933d58cd29718b9e9be7.jpeg

A truly beautiful place

A71B6FF3-0774-4EC5-89CD-CCB8952B3F31.thumb.jpeg.8e07448a7460c293532625a1e29ac336.jpegThe Rectors Palace: this is where the coins of Ragusa were struck after 1435. The location of the earlier mint (where my coin was struck) is not known. 

B4AE0DD8-A0C9-4BDB-A173-BD2D01F80E52.thumb.jpeg.f354a29dacb0d660a28e317602077141.jpeg
A pretty epic bar that you get to by passing through a tiny little door in the medieval wall. Excellent views!

Great coins and lovely photos, looks really spectacular 🙂 

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Great photos of Dubrovnik and coin. Although I've travelled many places in Europe, I've never visited the city of Dubrovnik. It's so popular now they've put a counter at the entrance of the city walls to allow only a certain amount of visitors at the same time, just like in museums. Must be very busy in the summer !

 

Q

 

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4 hours ago, Qcumbor said:

Great photos of Dubrovnik and coin. Although I've travelled many places in Europe, I've never visited the city of Dubrovnik. It's so popular now they've put a counter at the entrance of the city walls to allow only a certain amount of visitors at the same time, just like in museums. Must be very busy in the summer !

 

Q

 

When I was there it was only crowded when the cruise ships were in. If you were staying in the area and checked the cruise schedule you could visit with a much reduced crowd. It is an especially charming place for dinner in the evening. 

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I also have a coin from the republic of Ragusa too!!! The republic of Ragusa itself is very specific throughout history.

It had a very complex system of government that ensured a well managed state. Every so often they elected a rector (which is like a president) who during his tenure had to be completely isolated from his friends and family to prevent corruption. They were also a safe haven for political dissidents as they offered asylum to exiles from various Balkan countries. Their skill in seafaring, sharp diplomacy and talented merchants allowed for them to play other countries off each other to prevent the city of Dubrovnik itself from being attacked. If none of this worked they could also retreat to their system of fortifications. They were also the only Balkan country to ever have a colony in India.

Overall the republic of Ragusa stands out as one of those neat curiosities in the pages of history. It legacy still lives on as a center of culture in Dalmatia. As someone who lives near it, I view the city with nothing but respect..

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I have two coins of Ragusa, one of which is most remarkable for its countermark.  I assume one side shows the head of 
Saint Blasius, and the other represents the fortified city.  I believe these were struck between 1372 and 1438 AD.  If anyone knows anything about the countermark, or can date the striking of these coins more precisely, I would love to know more.  

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