Amaury and his successors’ use of the Holy Sepulchre as the obverse image on coins was a way to legitimise their power. The use of this building on a coin of the kingdom of Jerusalem seems a natural choice, and acted to strengthen and proclaim the link between the kings of Jerusalem, the church, and the city itself, thus reinforcing the legitimacy of the dynasty’s claims to rule the kingdom.
Metcalf, David Michael. Coinage of the Crusades and the Latin East in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. London: Royal Numismatic Society, 1995. Pages 57-71
Credit line
The Mildred King Memorial Collection. Gift of Colonel E. J. King, 1935.