@seth77, that's a magnificent convergence of rarity with immediate (needless to say, dramatic) historical context.
...Uh-oh, I'm trying to finish the start of a thread on Chateaudun, but only up to the mid-13th c. Don't jinx me, this time!!! LOL
Thanks!!! I can breathe easier now.... ...Only that, on the basis of every thread of yours I've seen so far, you'd be likely to render most of what I'd have to say redundant. ...Should get back to the draft for that thread....
One of my more recentmedieval purchases is a cut half penny of John that was minted in Carlisle. It is one out the rarest of mints for John, so I was really pleased to pick it up. It's the most expensive cut half penny I have purchased, but worth the tough bidding. I also picked up a denier from the city of Metz in the last month. Kind of a spur of the moment purchase, but a cool little coin.
I almost didn’t recognize @TheRed with that Greek coin as an avatar! Awesome coins. I shared my recent purchase from Metz, but was gifted one of these lovelies by Saturn last year (forgive my poor photograph): Lorraine - Metz Jean d’Apremont, r. 1224-1238 AR Denier, 14.68 mm x 0.7 grams Obv.: NO * E (perhaps abbreviated NAHO EN IS?), bust of bishop l., with crosier, one star in front of him Rev.: [ME]TENSIS, cross with one crescent in each angle Ref.: Roberts 8862 Variety, De Wit 532-6 variety
It's Monday here, so Aethelred II first hand penny of Lympne in Kent. EADSTAN M O LIMA. A hoard coin and a little bright, but a better mint.
Crusader Coin Showing Fascinating Medieval Armor Crusader Antioch Bohemond III (Minority 1149-1163, Majority 1163-1201) AR Denier, Antioch mint, struck ca. 1163-1188 Wt.: 1.06 g Dia.: 17 mm Obv.: +BOAHVHDVS; Helmeted head left marked with cross pattee, coif mail composed of crescents, five pointed star right, crescent left. Rev.: +ANTIOCNIA; cross pattee, with crescent pointing downward in second angle. Ref.: Malloy 65/Class A to B cf. Metcalf Ex AMCC 2, Lot 289 (Nov. 9, 2019)
An interesting design employed by the city of Nurnberg as an imperial mint for Friedrich II von Staufen as Holy Roman Emperor: As far as I have gathered there was a series of these pfennige minted from ca. 1220 to at least 1250, if not even spilling into the period after the death of Friedrich. The one source that everyone is referencing -- the Collection of Dr. Herbert J. Erlanger -- I have not read for attributing this piece. It came attributed as Erlanger 27 from a German dealer, but the attributions of this dealer are often sloppy. There are many other types in this series, although overall this coinage seems rather scarce. An interesting feature is the fact that these coins are anepigraphic and at least the main issues struck during the lifetime of Friedrich of exceptionally good silver alloy. This particular piece shows the crowned head of the emperor inside a decorated wreath on the obverse and the Staufen eagle inside of a decorated wreath on the reverse.
@TheRed, that's a brilliant example of Carlisle. Congratulations! (...No, I don't want to know how much it cost. ...Cut halfpenny, Carlisle, King John: I'm already scared.)
Here is a imitative dirham of al-Zahir Ghazi, the third son of Saladin. These imitations are unusual in that they could pass for the real thing except for the dates - this one is dated AH629 - per Paul Balog in "The Coinage of Ayyubids" what happened was the crusaders on the Syrian coast began to imitate the Ayyubid coins, and effectively froze the design while continuing to change the date. These six-pointed star coins take the form of name, title and date on the obverse and the name of the caliph and overlord on the reverse. The problem (as explained by Balog) is that the purported issuer (al-Zahir Ghazi) died in AH613, the caliph al-Nasir in AH622 and the overlord al-'Adil Abu Bakr in AH615. There is also a record of the successor to al-Zahir Ghazi (his son al-'Aziz Muhammad) issuing coins during this time period which makes it seem unlikely that the same mint would also continue issuing coins of his father. I don't speak or read Arabic but I've tried to illustrate the text on the coins as well using various references. Corrections welcome! Note that "Muhammad" on the reverse was not well struck so I simply included a dot of the reference color. I really enjoy medieval Mondays - keep the coins coming! Imitative dirham of al-Zahir Ghazi 2.94gm, 19mm Date AH629 (c.1231 AD) Minted in Halab (Aleppo today) Balog 652, Album 836, cf. Zeno #134701
@TTerrier, I'm really needing your transliterations, with the legends mapped out like that. Only wish I could transliterate anything besides Greek, ancient or more more contemporaneous. ...Like I can, on a good day. Here's my gros tournois of Philippe III, king of France 1270-1285.
Since we started doing rather strange Ayyubid coins today, here is a sloppily produced dirham fraction struck for Saladin. A rather unusual piece dated by Balog mainly based on the use of Kufic letters, which fell out of fashion soon after: Ayyubids of Egypt, under al-Nasir Yusuf I (Saladin), AR ½ dirham, 1169–1193 AD, Hamah mint. Obv: title and name of Saladin; kalima around. Rev: title and name of the Abbasid caliph an-Nasir (strongly off center). 14.5mm, 1.33g, Ref: Album 789.2.
I’ll follow the growing theme for today - I recently bought this one, just because I found it interesting for not only being an imitation of a Byzantine coin, but because of that, Christ was thus depicted on an Islamic coin (n.b. - fully aware of the role Jesus plays in Islam) Zangid of Syria Nur al-Din Mahmud, r. 541-569 AH (1146-1174) Halab (Aleppo) Mint, AE Fals, 24.91 mm x 4.4 grams Obv.: Two Byzantine style figures holding labarum between, name and titles of Nur al-Din Mahmud, and blundered Greek legends in field Rev.: Christ standing facing, holding gospels, titles of Nur al-Din Mahmud, and blundered Greek legends in field Ref.: Album 1850 Note: Imitative of a Byzantine issue of Constantine X (SBCV 1853)