SALOMON AR DENAR, 1063 - 1074 C.E.
Huszár 17, CNH 22, Choice Extremely Fine, 18.1mm, .59 gram
Obverse: +REX SALOMONI around King Salomon facing, holding long cross in one hand and raising the other
Reverse: +PA / NÖN / IA in three lines within circle
A BEAUTIFUL coin, nearly mint state, with a perfectly struck obverse and areas of deep irridescent toning!
Salomon was one of the very early and important kings of Hungary. He had a very colorful life worthy of further study. In summary, he was crowned as a boy, dethroned in 1060, crowned again in 1063. He subsequently married Judith the sister of the Holy Roman (German) Emperor Henry IV. Solomon finally abdicated about in 1081. Following that he was imprisoned and freed for the ceremony declaring sainthood for the first Hungarian King Stephen.
In the fourteenth century a pictorial history of early Hungary was published, known as the "Illuminated Chronical". See below for some links to events in the life of Salomon.
It is interesting how so many of the early Hungarian rulers had non-traditional biblical / Jewish names, i.e. Abba Samuel (some say he was a convert), Salomon, Koloman (Kalman). Some of the subsequent kings also had Jewish mintmasters who sometimes placed hebrew letters on the coins. Research shows how these early kings fought paganism, and firmed up the observance of Christianity in the eastern part of western Europe, in the final century and decades before the soon-to-come Crusades.
