170, Lot: 303. Estimate $150. Sold for $225. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Provincial. Provence. Charles I d’Anjou. 1246-1285. AR Gros (26mm, 4.06 g). Struck 1267. +KAROLVS*SCL’ REX (square C’s), cross pattée / COMES*PVINCIE, castle within border of lis. Rollin 35c; Roberts 5666; DeMey 841 (Charles II). VF, slight deposits, cleaning scratches.

Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence by marriage, had been offered the kingdom of Sicily by Pope Innocent IV as early as 1252 as the pontiff sought to suppress the Hohenstaufen dynasty. King Louis IX of France initially objected to the deal, and it wasn’t until 1262 that the agreement was formalized. Charles ultimately defeated and killed Manfred of Sicily at Benevento in 1266, and he became undisputed master of Sicily. But only until 1282, when the “Sicilian Vespers”, a revolt prompted by Peter III of Aragon, the Hohenstaufen heir, drove the forces of Charles from the island. The counts of Provence nonetheless held on to the title of King of Sicily and it was passed on through succeeding dynasties.