In 1191, Richard the Lionheart, King of England, on his way to the Third Crusade captured the island from Isaac Komnenos and sold it, first to the Knights Templar and then to Guy de Lusignan, who founded the Lusignan dynasty which was to rule Cyprus for three hundred years.

Guy de Lusignan introduced the monetary system of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, issuing deniers from base silver but at the same time continuing the issue of white bezants. The deniers depicted a tower with battlements [no. 1a] on the obverse and a cross pattee on the reverse [no. 1b].

There were no important developments in coinage from 1192 to 1267 when Hugh III (1267-1284) became king. During his reign, Hugh issued deniers and bezants, replacing the Latin inscriptions on the deniers with French and adding his new title of King of Jerusalem. This was a completely new type of coin, the first Cypriot coin to depict as the heraldic arms of Cyprus, a rampant lion [no. 8b].

Henry II (1285-1306) replaced the white bezant with a large coin of almost pure silver, modelled on the gros tournois of France. The Cypriot gros was worth half a bezant of 24 deniers. The gros became the standard currency of Cyprus and remained so until the end of the period. On the obverse of these coins, the king is depicted seated on a throne, wearing a crown and holding sceptre in his right hand and a globus cruciger in his left hand [no. 10a]. The lion of Cyprus is depicted on the reverse [no. 10b].

With the loss of the last Latin possessions in Syria in 1291, the Kingdom of Cyprus acquired great importance. The island became virtually the last political, naval and commercial outpost of the Western world in the Latin East. Famagusta, settled by refugees from Syria, grew into an important trading centre.

King Henry’s reign was cut short by his brother Amaury, Prince of Tyre, who usurped his throne in 1306. Amaury’s reign (1306-1310) produced some of the most beautiful coins of the Lusignan period. These coins depicted the lion of Cyprus within two concentric cirles of the legend on the obverse [no. 16a] and a shield combining the cross of Jerusalem and the family arms of the Lusigrans on the reverse [no. 16b]. Amaury was assassinated and Henry regained his throne to rule until 1324.

Henry was succeeded by his nephew Hugh IV [nos 22-26], during whose rule (1324-1358) Cyprus reached high levels of prosperity and wealth.

- Medieval tombstones with engraved figures of knights and noblewomen. From Tankerville Chamberlayne, Lacrimae Nicossienses, Paris 1894 (The Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation Collection).

- The Lion of Cyprus. Design on plexy-glass G. Simonis.