Cunincpert tremissis 612190

Lombardic Kingdom of Italy. Cunincpert. 688-700.

AV Tremissis (1.41 gm). Pavia mint.

DN CVNI-INCPE RX, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; in field to right, manus Dei

SCS MI-HAHIL :., St. Michael standing left, holding long cross.

Bernareggi, Il sistema economico e la monetazione dei Longobardi nell'Italia Superiore, pg. 138, 18; Gnecchi collection 3950; Arslan, Le monete dei Ostrogoti, Longobardi e Vandali, pg. 60, 43. Very rare. EF. ($3000)

Ex Aufhäuser Auction 14, (1998), lot 566.

In the early years of Lombardic settlement coinage seems to have been the product of local initiative, and only later in the 7th century was there an attempt to reestablish a royal monopoly. Cunincpert was the first Lombardic monarch to place his name and title explicitly on the coinage. The above specimen with the hand of God symbol recalls chapter 242 of Rothari's Edict of 643: " He who stamps gold or mints coin without the king's command shall have his hand cut off".