326, Lot: 681. Estimate $100. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Sicilia (Regno). Ruggero II. 1130-1154. Æ Follaro (14mm, 1.30 g, 3h). Messina mint. Dated AH 533 (AD 1138/9). al–malik al–mu‘azzam Rujjār al-mu‘tazz bi–llāh 533 in four lines / Facing bust of Christ. Travaini, Monetazione, 193; Spahr 62; MEC 14, 197. VF, green patina.

From the J. P. Righetti Collection.

Dated AH 533 with Hindu-Arabic numerals, this is the first coin of Europe using positional (modern) numerals in the date. See Dated Coins of Antiquity, p. 12, for a brief discussion.