Am I the only one who reads a history book then wants to collect coins associated with the period and history in the book? I think we all as coin collector's want a bit of a connection to the past for whatever reason. My main focus is Roman Imperial but I just The Plantagenets by Dan Jones (great book by the way) and have been buying hammered English pennies of the period and of course references to learn about them. Then of course I needed a Norman coin then some Saxon coins and now I am building a decent little collection of English hammered coins. They are really interesting and challenging to accurately identify. I will start posting some of them soon. Here are a couple that I have photographed just for the sake of having picures. Please post pictures of coins from and area of history outside your normal collection area. Here is a penny of John a Plantagenet and and Cnut from the Saxon period.
Here is one that I captured due to some out-of-my-primary-historical-focus readings on the Templars: FRANCE PHILIPPE IV LE BEL CE 1285-1314 AR 25mm GROS TOURNOIS À L'O ROND AR 25mm DUPLESSY 213 - Killed off Knights Templar Friday 13 October 1307 Some readings on a Crazy Ivan: RUSSIA Ivan IV The Terrible 1533-1584 AR Denga Moscow mint Horseman riding right brandishing sword - Inscription in lines G&K 59 Rare type Everyone knows this guy... but @Cucumbor turned me on to a really cool coin from Napoleon: France Napoleon Emperor 2 Francs 1808-I Limoges mint Republic Rev AU55
Same. Sometimes what I’m reading leads to a coin, and sometimes it’s the coin that leads to further reading.
You are by no means the only person to do this. My interest in coins stems from my love of history. Occasionally it is the coin that leads me to a book, but more often it is the other way round.
I'm right there with you @alde especially when it is medieval history. Dan Jones also has a really good book on the War of Roses that is worth the read. You got a couple really nice pennies, I particularly like the Cnut. I've been wanting to start collecting his coins, but haven't had the budget lately. I love the Ivan @Alegandron I've been wanting to get a coin or two of his after reading a really great biography about him. One crazy man, yet in many ways he helped mold Russia into what it is, a single nation. One of the more sensational thins he did was to create the Oprichniki, a secret police of sorts that wore black and rode on black horses with a severed dog's head and a broom as their emblems. Their purpose was to rid the county of the Tsars enemies, both real and imagined. Around large parts of Russia they brought terror and death, if the stories about them are to be believed.
I have the War of the Roses book on my shelf. Maybe it will be next after the one I'm reading now. I like Dan Jones writing style. My Cnut penny is my only one so far. Nice ones are a little pricey for me. I'm finding nice Small Cross Pennies are pretty obtainable for good prices if you shop around. I have found a couple of really good dealers in the UK that I have grown to trust very much. One in particular is outstanding. I will PM you his info is you like.
I'd like to echo the sentiments above. I'm sure the vast majority here share the coin<-->book thing! I collect pretty much everything except U.S. coins. But I can still comply with your posting request: (New Jersey colonial) Looks like a cool book, I just ordered it! Edit: just tried to PM you about the dealer, but it looks like one of your settings prevents this...? or maybe just a glitch?
Also my interest in history piqued my interest in coins. I stumbled upon a coin shop in Aiea, Hawaii when I was 11 and they were selling ancients, with probably 20 on display at any given time. I was struck by how one could purchase roman coins for $20-$80 with some of the most famous emperors. My interest in history right now is focused on reading the original sources - Plutarch, Ammianus, Cassius Dio, the Historia Augusta, Livy, Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, Eusebius, the Alexiad (Byzantine) of Anna Comnena, and so on.
Alde, I’ve always been reading history and have found a symbiotic relationship between reading and buying ancients. They feed on each other. Sometimes a book will trigger a coin purchase reflecting a specific event, person or place and at other times, a coin that caught my fancy causes me to track down a book about its history. The purchase of this 16 mm AE from Bruttium, minted circa 214-211 BC came after reading SPQR by Mary Beard, which does an excellent job of covering how Republican Rome developed into the Mediterranean super power of the day. Of course, reading books like these will make me really want to buy ancients also.
I read extensively before ever thinking about acquiring an ancient coin. I have always had a love of history. It is even possible to say that my primary focus, the 12 Caesars, really is a subset of my overall collection which could be called "historical figures on coins". I love looking at coins thinking of whose hands they may have passed through and what was purchased with them.
Please do. I have found some of my usual sellers have limited inventories these days and would love to find more dealers in medieval coins.
