Earliest Non-Dated Coin: 1 Half-Denar From Hungary

Hi I'd like to share the story of one of my coins with you.

See below for a picture of my half-denar from Hungary. The diameter is 17 mm and the mass is 0.8 g. Early references (such as Huszar) referred to these coins as denars, but Frynas makes the point that since in the first part of the 11th century contemporary pfennigs had a weight of about 1.5 g, the value on these coins was most likely a half-denar (AKA obol). Later Hungarian rulers in the 11th Century debased the silver from this starting point of 930/1000 fineness as well as reduced the weight down to 0.5 g or so. The only Hungarian operating mint for this timeframe was in Esztergom, a city right on the Danube River in northern Hungary.

They aren't dated, so traditionally bracketing of the minting timeframe has been the king's ascension to the throne in 997 AD at the earliest and his death in 1038 AD at the latest. However, in the recent book by Frynas (Medieval Coins of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland), he makes the case for the singular Royal Mint starting production in about 1020. Therefore, I would propose that this coin was minted between 1020 and 1038 AD.

The obv inscription is STEPHANVS REX and the rev inscription is REGIA CIVITVS. Personally, I find the early letter shapes, especially the T, P, G, and C to be fascinating. The A is the common Gothic shape. Both the obv and rev have similar central designs: short crosses with little wedges in each quarter. Other than a small surface crack near the center on the rev, I think that this coin is in pretty amazing condition.

King Stephan I was the first crowned king of Hungary despite Hungary existing more or less as a country since the late 800s. For me, the most fascinating aspect of this coin is that it represents the start of Hungarian coinage. The attribution is Huszar #1! However, I should point out that Frynas describes a commemorative denar briefly struck in 1000 for King Stephan's coronation, so there is perhaps a little controversy whether my coin is actually the very first coin of Hungary or merely the very first coin that actually saw use as currency.

In addition to my coin and EddieDiz's example posted elsewhere on CCF (https://goccf.com/t/195985&whichpage=37), I do see one for sale on ma-shops, but none on vcoins. Interestingly, all three coins are in pretty good shape for their age. According to Frynas, there were "millions of these coins struck" so it shouldn't be too hard to pick up a nice example for yourself.