MONCASTRO: Genoese Colony, AR asper (0.69g), ca. mid-15th century, cf. Zeno-10037, countermarked cross with one pellet in each of the quadrants, on Golden Horde dang (dirham) of Sayyid Ahmad (1433-1460), mint of Urdu Bazar (type A-A2063, possibly same obverse die as Zeno-274802), bold VF on F-VF host, R. The colony was called Moncastro in Italian but also known as Asprokastron in Greek, Cetatea Alba in Romanian, and Akkerman in Turkish. It was annexed into the Ottoman Empire in 1484 and later became a part of the Russian Empire in 1812. Today it is the Ukrainian city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.

Estimate: USD 150 - 200