The obverse of this coin depicts Saint George. He served in the Roman Army as a young man. After he avowed himself Christian in 303, however, he suffered martyrdom and was beheaded. Saint George is mostly depicted as a soldier with a spear and a shield – as can be seen on this tetarteron. The reverse shows Emperor John III of Nicaea (1222-1254). John was the ruler of realm established after Constantinople had fallen to the crusaders in 1204. Nicaea maintained Byzantine culture and tradition until the reconquest of Constantinople in 1261. Accordingly the Nicaean emperors had their coins minted in Byzantine style.