Here's a Louis VI (1108-1137) of Etampes. It's cool for being a royal coin imitating an earlier feudal issue, the immobilized deniers of Herbert I, Count of Maine. You could read that as symptomizing the aggregate power of the aristocracy, this early in the Capetian period. Here's a view of the royal donjon at Etampes, dating to the beginning of the following reign (Louis VII). It's a coolly early example of a 'transitional keep' (effectively between rectangular and circular ones), consisting of four lobes.
Brilliant example, @panzerman --yes, also metaphorically! I need to sit down some day and make myself learn 'Coin Arabic.' The calligraphy, across periods and styles, is inexhaustibly beautiful.
..idk if i've shown all my Habsburg coinage that i have (may have missed one or 3)...but i did just get an Habsburg banner ...and ya know, i'm not a Habsburg, Austrian, Spanish or even Roman Catholic (that i know of).. i just thought them fascinating & chose them to collect...that's all..and i still need a few to get'em all..
I also just got a Umayyad coin but it is a humble dirham from Wasit. These are so common that Album rates them "A" and says they are often available "in wholesale quantities". Still nice calligraphy though. Umayyad Caliphate. Time of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Dated 119 AH (737 CE). Silver dirham. 28.6mm, 2.86g. Wasit mint. Album 137.
Me and You are brothers.....I also really love Holy Roman Empire coinage My last day today of being "unemployed" back to doing yard cleanups tomorrow.....finally can get out and make some cash.....
I attempted to do this, but I found Kufic to be impossible without knowing the language (maybe someday I’ll learn Arabic, but I doubt it). I’ve got a little side collection of coins from East Africa which I would probably appreciate more if I could read them: East Africa - Kilwa Sultanate al-Ḥasan b. Sulaymān, r. 1320-1333 Kisiwani mint, AE Fals, 19.01 mm x 1.7 grams Obv.: احسن بن / سليمان / عزذصز (al-Hasan ibn / Sulaiman / yathiku (May his victory be glorious!)). Inscription in three lines Rev.: يتق / بالواحل / النان (trusts / in the One (God) / the Bountiful). Inscription in three lines Ref.: SICA 10, #615, Freeman-Grenville 1954, pg. 223 no. xv, Walker obv: XVII, Rev.: XXIII, Album 1183, Zeno 112574; Note: found on Kilwa island in 1982
@FitzNigel, if you're ever moved to unload one of 'em, I'm here, and (still, for this minute) have money.
too late! I put one up at AMCC 2. And then regretted it afterwards. I think I am now officially a hoarder.
In keeping with today's theme, here is my only Islamic coin. It's a dirham from the Al-Andalus mint of the Caliphate of Cordoba. It was minted when the Caliphate was starting to collapse amid civil war, economic decline, and Christian pressure. As I've taken a deeper dive into the history, I've become much more interested in the coinage of the period.
Super great looking coin, hardly ever seen! Here's an Abbasid coin that I sold when I first started selling some coins, I've regretted it ever since because it was one of the first four ancient coins that I bought at a coinshow when I was around 13. If by some small chance the current owner sees this, I'd love to buy or trade for it back!
Here is my most recent medieval purchase: Italy, Lucca, civic issue, under Henry II-V, AR denaro, c. 1004–1125 AD. Obv: +IMPERATOR; H-monogramm in circle. Rev: +ENRICVS; L-V-C-A around central dot. 16mm, 0.91g. Ref: Biaggi 1098. I bought ist since denari from Lucca were widely used during and directly after the First Crusade. They often show up in hoards from that time, and Raymond of Aguilers writes in his Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem: "Erat haec nostra moneta: pictavini, cartenses, mansei, lucenses, valentinenses, megorensi, et duo pogesii pro uno istorum" ("This was our money: [coins] of Poitou, of Chartres, of Les Mans, of Lucca, of Valence, of Melgueil, and two [coins] of Le Puy for each of these"). The type itself is very common but usually poorly struck. I wanted an example with full legends and had to search for a long while.
One of my favorite Islamic coins, it seems hard to find but clearly based off Roman coinage, My largest Victory at 32mm Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Kayfa & Amid). Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan (AH 543-570 / AD 1148-1174). Ae Dirham. ISLAMIC. Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Kayfa & Amid). Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan (AH 543-570 / AD 1148-1174). Ae Dirham. Obv: Victory advancing right, holding tablet. Rev: Name, title, and genealogy of Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan in four lines and outer margins. Whelan Type V, 127-8; S&S Type 3; Album 1820.3; ICV 1175. Weight: 10.81 g. Diameter: 32 mm.
A lot of very high quality and desirable lucenses, valentinenses and megorensi and some pictavini and cartenses have been offered these few months by a certain german auction house, likely from a Middle Eastern hoard as they all seem to be variations centering around 1100. My favorite is a megorensis from ca. 1097/1100-1125 AR16mm 1.08 g. These were made with a title around 540/1000 in 1097 and 400/1000 in 1125:
Stick another little copper in here.... Sussala 1st Reign 1113-1120 AD Copper Kaserah or Punchshi 17.5mm (5.86gr) Obverse- Goddess Ardochsho/Lakshmi seated Reverse- King facing
Groats of Edward IV of England, the Yorkist protagonist in the War of the Roses. One from England (London), one from Ireland (Dublin)