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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;FitzNigel, post: 2939159, member: 74712&quot;]d’Andrea, Alberto and Vincenzo Contreras.&nbsp; <i>The Normans’ coins of the Kingdom of Sicily</i>.&nbsp; Medieval Italian Coins.&nbsp; Third Edition.&nbsp; Acquaviva Picena: Edizioni D’Andrea, 2016.</p><p>ISBN: 978-8898330034</p><p>Cost: €35</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]715539[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Grade: B</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Normans’ Coins of the Kingdom of Sicily</i> is a good catalogue of the various coins minted by the Normans in Italy.&nbsp; While giving a basic run-down of the complicated history of the Normans in Italy, it also records their monetary reforms and attempts to (unsuccessfully) unify the various systems in use between Sicily and the mainland.&nbsp; While this information is useful, the reader is sometimes left wondering where the information comes from since citations are scant.&nbsp; Citations are given at times, and include whole paragraphs reprinted from other works describing a controversial matter, but this is not consistent throughout.&nbsp; The book is in both English and Italian, and it is clear that Italian was the primary language used in compiling it, as some of the English translations are questionable (aside from the title itself, I enjoyed a little laugh each time an inscription came up as “Jesus Christ Winner” instead of “Jesus Christ the Victorious”).</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the catalogue, it is certainly comprehensive, but not entirely complete.&nbsp; The inclusion of the Arabic inscriptions on many of the coins, rather than just the English translation, is nice, but the writing on the coins is in Kufic, not Nashk as it is presented in the book.&nbsp; This makes it more difficult for those of us without a background in Arabic to match up the inscriptions with our coins.&nbsp; There is occasionally a questionable placement, such as nos. 14 and 15 which the author believes should be attributed to Roger II minted in Bari (with no explanation as to why), but is listed under Anfusus of Capua because of historical precedence.&nbsp; The catalogue also does not mark many die varieties, which I was only able to tell because my trifollaro of Roger I is different than the three included.</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite some faults, this is probably the best affordable catalogue of Norman Coins in Italy.&nbsp; It is fully in color (unlike MEC 14), with a good layout, and is relatively new (The second edition of Lucia Travaini&#039;s <i>La monetazione nell&#039;Italia Normanna</i> may be newer, but I have yet to have a chance to look at this).&nbsp; It also includes a supplemental insert on the estimated market values of the coins, which is useful now, but I do not know how frequently and comprehensively this will be updated.&nbsp; If you have an interest in the Norman coins and of Italy, this will be an easy, quick, and affordable reference to own.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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