Shoot, I know there are a few Byzantine/Medieval collectors but they're not nearly as common as Romans. There's one prolific poster here who's a veritable expert on Medievals but his name escapes me...
There are a couple of ways you can go about this. The central coinage would likely be the "knight" deniers of the Bohemond rulers of Antioch (I think there are several, and they are pretty cool, with the bust of a knight in chain mail on one side and a cross on the reverse). There is also Crusader coinage from the kingdom in Cyprus (Hugh IV etc). Another subset you can also build is from regional Frankish rulers from Achaea, Greece (Isabella de Villehardouin etc). Lastly, you can expand out to French, British and other coinage associated with the Crusades (such as the denier from the bishops of Valence, for example). There may be even more areas you can build into this type of collection as you learn more about the history and events of the period. I did consider assembling such a set some time ago and did acquire several coin types but ultimately returned to my three core areas: Messapian mints of Magna Grecian Apulia / Calabria (including Taras/Tarentum and Brundisium), coinage of East Frisia from ~900 AD - 1700 AD and my "general" Roman collection that I've been working on for about two decades.
There are a few other CT'ers which would probably be able to expand on this topic in much greater detail - maybe @VGODVCKS?
While I am no expert on the coinage of the Crusader states, my focus is Plantagenets and Anglo-Gallic, my intuition says to pick either the Principality of Antioch or Kingdom of Jerusalem and collect by ruler or try and get a coin from each of the Crusader states and the associated baronial coinages. Whatever you do, picking up a copy of "Coins of the Crusader Stats" by Alex G Malloy is a great place to start. With a decent amount of searching a first edition can be found for under $50, even in the $25 range. Below is my only crusader coin, a denier of Antioch. I think @seth77 and @+VGO.DVCKS could give much more insight. They, along with @FitzNigel are very well versed in this area of medieval numismatics.
I don't know if there is a well-defined "set" that collectors of Crusader coins seek, there are several members here who specialize in Medieval coins who can answer that better. But I can say that the Crusades are a fascinating time in history, and as good a period as any to focus on. I have a couple of relevant coins that I've posted before. First is one of the more iconic Crusader portrait types a silver denier of Bohemund III of Antioch, shown in helmet and chain-mail armor: Write-up here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/bohemund-a-knight-in-shining-armor.305120/#post-2891673 And if you collect coins of the Crusaders, you really should have some coins of the Muslim opponents they faced. Here's a bronze of the powerful Mamluk sultan Baybars I, featuring a feline on the obverse: And my write-up (with terrible pun in the title): https://www.cointalk.com/threads/hit-me-baybars-one-more-time.358169/#post-4336420
I think everyone here has already given good advice. How do we define a set? Can we build a set of Ancient Greek coins? I think the problem is similar. I would echo the recommendation if Malloy, and then maybe a coin from each state before expanding into multiple princes and then coins brought on crusade. I personally focus (sometimes…) on the coins of the Normans, so I like to collect the coins from Antioch since it was ruled by Normans from Southern Italy
The best advice that could be given in this situation has already been given: buy the Malloy book and get familiarized with the realms and the coinages. Then start with the readily available material in auction (that you'll probably find not very expensive) -- mostly the copper coinage of Antioch in the early 1100s and the billon deniers of Bohemond from the second half of the 12th century and some billon coinages from the Greek Frankokratia (Glarentza, Thebes, Lepanto, etc). Another direction of interest would be to go for the European coinages that were used by the crusaders as presented by Raymond d'Aguilers ('erat haec nostra moneta'). Some of these are also very available and many come right from Middle Eastern finds, being a very close connection to the movements of the crusaders themselves. Once you've done this you'll be able to decide for yourself what suits your interests best.
I believe this is one of the main appeals of collecting ancient or medieval coins. People adverse to learning will probably drop out with a headache but those who relish the opportunity to buy coins that you understand even if they are not 'required for a set' items love this hobby. Exactly! If you want it, define your 'set' to include it. That lil' fella really got around didn't he? It is hard to imaging a collection of the period that did not have one of these but I have no idea what a 'set' in the mind of a specialist might include. Are there a dozen meaningful variations or a hundred? I'll never know. I have too many specialties already! For those who did not know him: Alex Malloy was a dealer in the earlier period of my time in the hobby. I have a stack of his catalogs which I considered famous for poor photos on newsprint quality paper. He did, however, have some interesting coins so I saved the catalogs despite their 'problems'. Old catalog accumulations like mine are destined for the recycle bin between the postage costs and falling number of people who value such things over the online resources. I was planning on giving my junk books to someone before I am gone just to prevent their destruction but sorting them reminded me how interesting they were. Now that I am buying fewer old coins, perhaps I will spend more time with old paper. Few of you remember when we looked forward to the mail delivery in the hope there would be one or two new catalogs from someone like Alex Malloy. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=alex g. malloy
Go to the Ancients site and ask Donna. Very professional, ancient coins kingpin of knowledge, always here to help. Good luck.
I was lucky enough to purchase David M. Metcalf's Coinage of The Crusades And The Lati East In The Ashmolean Museum Oxford from the estate of a ninety two year old collector for a very low price about fifteen or twenty years ago (refered to as the mists of the past) couldn't have been more than ten bucks. It is like new. I purchased as many numismatic books as I could including several key books on Chinese and chop marks. Inside the cover I also keep Malloy and Allen Bermans Price Guide to Coins Of The Crusader States. Stupid me, I then started looking for these coins as a valid adjunct to my prime interest of the Byzantine period. They are all incestuously joined. What a hobby. I wish I had more time to photo all of my collection, but time is my enemy.
There are many medieval coins either issued by the Crusaders or tied more or less directly to them. And the coins of their opponents, and the coins the Crusaders struck imitating their opponents’ coins, are all available. The bounds of a Crusader coin collection are wherever you chose to set them. Here are a few coins with Crusader ties. #1is a Grosso of Venice of the Doge Iacopo Tiepolo 1229-1249. Papadapoli-4803. Prior to being elected Doge, he served as Podestà of Constantinople, newly conquered by the forces of the Fourth Crusade. Obv: Christ enthroned. Rev: Tiepolo and St. Mark. Purchased from Ed Waddell in 1988. #2 is a small bronze of the Norman kingdom of Sicily, a 1/6 follaro of the King Willam II the Good 1166-89 AD. Obv: Lion Mask. Rev. Al-Malik Ghulyalim al-Thani. MEC14 434, better than the plate coin. Purchase price and date unrecorded. #3 Champagne- Provins et Sens: silver denier of Thibault III, Comte de Champagne 1197-1201. Obv: Thibalt Comes Rev: Castri Pravins. The City of Provins was site of one of the Champagne fairs during the Middle Ages. The device is a wool comb. The quadrants of the cross feature two bezants, an alpha and omega. Thibault III came from a crusading family and was the driving influence behind the organization of the Fourth Crusade. His untimely death started the chain of events which resulted in the Crusaders being in debt to Venice, and ultimately the conquest of Constantinople. Purchased in 1988 The firm SOLIDUS lists this coin as either from Thibault III or IV. (Frankreich - Champagne. Thibaut III. (1197 - 1201) oder Thibaut IV. (1201 - 1253).) #4 is a Crusader denier from the Duchy of Athens, Guy II de la Roche during his majority 1294-1308 AD. He was the son of Guillame de la Roche and a Byzantine noblewoman, Helena Angelina Comnena. Obv: GUI DUX ATENES Rev: THEBANI CIVIS. Frankish Greece #93. Purchased 2013 #5 Cyprus siege coinage of the Venetians at the siege of Famagusta 1570 AD. Obv: PRO REGNO CYPRI PRESSIDIO. Rev: VENETORŪ FIDES INVIOLABILIS . BISANTE. The Turks’ slaughter of the garrison following their surrender on terms precipitated the Battle of Lepanto. This coin was pierced and worn as a talisman. The gros tournois is an innovation with strong ties to Crusading history and a focus on these coins would make a fine collection. #6 Saint Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270 AD.) Europe’s first gros tournois circa 1266-1270 AD. Some luster remaining. Ciani 181. Obv: cross, légende intérieure : + LVDOVICVS. REX légende extérieure : + BNDICTV: SIT: NOmE: DHI: nRI: DEI: IhV. XPI, (ponctuation par trois besants superposés). Traduction: (Louis roi ; Que le nom de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ soit béni). Rev: TURONIS CIVIS. Purchased from Alex Malloy 6/1989 #7 Bohemund VI of Tripoli 1251-75 AD. He was knighted in Acre by St. Louis IX, married Sybilla of Armenia, daughter of King Hetoum, bringing peace between Armenia and Tripoli, and assisted the Armenians and the Mongols in the capture of Aleppo and Damascus in 1260 AD. Antioch was lost to Baybars during his reign, in 1268AD. Obv: Cross. BOEMVNDVS COMES. Rev: Star. CIVITAS TRIPOLI. Purchased 3/1993 from Andy Singer #8 Bohemund VII of Tripoli 1275-87 AD. OBV: Cross. SEPTIMVS BOEMVNDVS COMES. Rev: CIVITAS TRIPOLIS SYRIE. Bohemond VII spent much of his reign at war with the Templars and the Genoese. He left no known legitimate children. This gros was the same weight as the French gros tournois. It was the last Crusader coin struck in the Holy Land. Tripoli was lost to the Mamluks in 1289, two years after his death. Purchased from Stephen Huston #9 Robert d’Anjou, Kingdom of Naples and Jerusalem Also called a gigliato. 1309-1343 AD. Obv: HONOR REGIS IUDICIUM DILIGIT Rev: ROBERT DEI GRA IERL ET SICIL REX. The honor of the king delights in justice. Psalm 98:4 Vulgate. Purchased from Stephen Huston #10 Kingdom of Cyprus, Peter I. 1359-1369 AD. Purchased from Andy Singer 8/1989. His reign was the acme of military power of the Cypriot Kingdom. His coins show the king holding a sword in lieu of a scepter. Then there are the Crusader opponents. Here is one of the Turkish mounted archers who gave Crusader armies so much trouble. #11. Dirham of Seljuk Qilij Arslan IV. Album 1226. What I find fascinating about this coin is the crescentic arrowheads, and the archer holding two more arrows in his right hand for extremely rapid shooting. The YouTube clip below illustrates what the Crusader armies were fighting. #12. And here is a fals of Saladin to conclude our tour. My advice to you is let your collection grow organically, as you explore the history of the period. It can be a lifelong study. And buy the books!
The grossi from Tripoli should be approached with great attention, there are many fakes and some are very convincing.
@Mammothtooth, sorry for being so late to this party. (Dumb logistics; dumb story.) Aside from its innate intelligence, your question is especially fun for admitting of good news! If you're willing to go along with the traditional spine of the historical narrative, c. 1096-1291,* you can still find resonantly representative examples of several key intervals, generally at less than $100 each. Often, even to this day, substantially less. Deniers of the kings of Jerusalem are probably the likeliest to go higher than that, but still only into the low three figures. ...That's as long as you cultivate an appropriately relaxed attitude toward condition. For medievals, as long as you get clear legends and recognizable motifs, stick a fork in yourself; you're done! The following is the main outline of what I did, with a view toward getting examples with the optimal historical and (Doh, Not coincidentally) numismatic bang for the buck. Including Crusader imitations of Byzantine and Islamic prototypes ...along with the prototypes. Along with pics of my examples, this will include links to issues which were bought too long ago to have any. If I had any of this to do over again, I'd be wanting an example of Alexios I, the Byzantine emperor whose request for military aid against the Turks gave Pope Urban II the pretext to declare the First Crusade. ...Right, when Alexios had to host the ensuing, er, host in Constantinople, they didn't hit it off. Minor details like the Great Schism of 1051. Along with how a primary contingent was composed of Norman Italians, led by Bohemond of Taranto, whose dad had invaded the heart of the Byzantine Balkans in the previous decade. It might have been like a small town in New England hosting a motorcycle gang. ...Lacking pics, here's a link to only one of the usual suspects, Wildwinds. http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/alexius_I/t.html Except, an AE follis would give you a cool segue to some of the earliest issues of the Crusaders (...who didn't go back home). These are folles of Antioch, starting with rare ones all the way back to Bohemond, but easier to find from his cousin and primary regent, with the terrifically Norman name of Tancred. Here, replete with mail hauberk, sword and (too lightly struck) turban --along with the Byzantine Greek abbreviations on the other side. From there, I'd be wanting representation of the kings of Jerusalem. Of these, for a collector, Baldwin III (1143-1163) is sort of the Charles the Bald to Baldwin I's Charlemagne. Much easier --and you won't be sorry. Here are both of mine, with the '+BALdVINVS REX' and 'dE IERVSALEM' legends, and the Tower of David --a precociously early depiction of anything resembling a castle, as compared to contemporaneous European issues. (Funly, by way of Fulk V (d. 1142), Count of Anjou and King of Jerusalem, Baldwin and his brother and successor, Amaury I, were great-uncles of Richard 'Couer de Lion' --as Samuel Johnson said, in some entries of the Dictionary, 'a beast well known.') h ...Granted, the deniers of Amaury (1163-1174), with similar legends, and a comparably schematic rendering of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, run to being a little less, but with negligable loss to your net historical resonance. Here's the only, frankly crappy example I could find pics of. (These were immobilized into the early 13th century; I bought this one hoping it was one of those.) ...And, to second the motion for the eighth time, you obviously need a denier of Bohemond III of Antioch (majority 1163-1201). Not only because the issue is so iconic, but because the reign spans such a broad interval, relative to the fortunes of the 'Crusader States' generally. ...Yes, during the reign of Amaury, they were still kicking some butt. Then you get the Battle of Hattin in 1187, leading to the recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin, ...and the Third Crusade, and so forth, through a fascinating but commensurately fraught 13th century. ...For the earlier 13th century, I'd want to start with 'Crusader' (/'Frankish Levantine,' in light of the generational interval involved, from any participants in the Crusades) imitations of Ayyubid dirhams. (Thank you, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty was none other than Saladin, who trounce the Franks at the Battle of Hattin, and went on to recapture Jerusalem. --Thank you, from the 'Franks,' not the Byzantines. In the immediate context, I don't think 'recapture' is hyperbolic.) Here's one from the earlier phase, as per Malloy. (Going back a couple of decades, this one was dated to 1217 CE, by a graduate student in Boston. --Who was literate in Arabic, just exactly like I'm not.) From that point, you might want some examples of the Ayyubid prototypes. Mine aren't great, but for them or better ones, I'd heartily recommend Steve Album. ...And the further you go into the 13th century, the more contrapuntally fraught the narrative outline gets. Anyway, especially since the series (effectively plural) is inexhaustible, those were supposed to be some high points you could hit without a lot of trouble. *My favorite 1-volume overview is the English translation of Jean Richard, The Crusades: C. 1071-1291 (Cambridge UP, 1999). It's, well, a little Francocentric, but, as any Francophile will cheerfully tell you, that's merely appropriate to the historical dynamics on the ground. ...Not for nothing did the Levantine Muslim chronicles routinely refer to the crusaders as 'Franks.'
