Seems I know a guy who did that Rick - other than the excellent suggestions you have already received - I would suggest you try to pin down a time period you want to work within. I say this because you mentioned medieval ( yeah you dang British never could spell ) - and none of my collection goes beyond the very end of that period - mid to late 1300's. Of course if the coins from before those dates appeal to you - go for it pal But to be more accurate - the majority of my collection is from the renaissance period and later.
A book you might find very useful to you (especially if French is not one of your greatest linguistic talents) is Jim Robert's `The Silver Coins of Medieval France 476 - 1610 AD' (published by Attic Books 1996). Its layout can be a little difficult to get to grips with initially, but the wealth of information is tremendous, covering everything (royal and feudal) from Roman times through to Louis XIII. Ian
I still find the North catalogue a headache when trying to attribute a coin to a particular class. Yeah so GD does the Renaissance, Reid and co do the ancients. It kinda leaves people like me left to browse the medieval field practically undisturbed. I tend to find English silver coins from 950-1327 most interesting, i'm not too fussed about the 1327-1500 period, but my interest is picked up again by the profile portrait coinage of Henry VII running to the downfall of Mary Tudor in 1558. I tend to focus on the pennies from the earlier era (usually cos they were the only coins struck), and i intend to focus almost exclusively on groats or halfgroats for the Tudor period. Something with a good portrait. My interest in English gold coins fills the gap running from Edward III (1327-1377) through the Charles I (1625-1649). I tend not to be too bothered by the Elizabethan-Charles I period in silver coinage terms, and the Commonwealth period (1649-1660) really does nothing for me at all. The designs are insipid for the Republic. As for the later issues my interest is rekindled by the 1662-1787 issues. Anything post that doesn't really interest me. Mediæval coins are an hard one to figure out how best to go about it. You could collect one denomination of one monarch by class, by moneyor, by mint. Obviously mediæval era it's difficult to collect by date. My aim as i see it, is to collect one coin of every English monarch (excluding rare ones) from Eadgar to Charles I (I have actually go most of the ones after that to Geo III, but they don't fit in the hammered collection). I intend to have at least one silver penny of every one from Eadgar to Edward II (Sometimes more perhaps if there is a major difference between one issue and another, i.e Long cross/Short cross). Edward III-Richard III in gold coins. Henry VII & VIII gold and silver Edward VI gold Mary Tudor - one of every denomination that i can afford (obviously not the Ryal), but Mary is a particular interest to me. Elizabeth I- Charles I in gold. Charles II - George III a full set of milled sixpences by date from 1674-1787. That it with my collecting aims. It'll take me a good 50 years but i've got time.
A challenging set of objectives you have there. My problem (well, one of the many...) is that my interests are splattered across the entire numismatic timeline AND geography. If it's a coin, and irrespective of whether it's ancient / mediæval / modern then i'm interested. I had objectives once....but like most of my annual New Year resolutions...they never lasted more than a few weeks. The handful of mediæval coins that I have are from 1100's -1400's from the Lowlands and France (Utrecht, Brabant, Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, Lorraine for example) with a few Brits, German and Indian stuff for that period thrown in. There is no way I could focus solely on mediæval coinage. There's just too many other interesting coins out there for me to be able to box one area of numismatics off from the whole. In one way I am envious of those who can, but on the other hand I think being a `browser' also has its merits. One track leads to specialism (a lot about a little) the other to generalism (a little about a lot). Ian The Goatlike
Didn't he put together some thin paperbound - world coins and paper money - or something like that? I have that book. So far it is my only resource, because it has a pretty good section on ancient/medieval coins. I will research his name on amazon and see what I can add to my christmas list. I have also found 'Coins of Medieval Europe (Coins in History)' by Philip Grierson... that is also on my christmas list - unless I buy it before that time.
At the Michigan State Numismatic Society convention this past weekend, I found Poey d'Avant's Monnaies Feodales de France at a decent price. The dealer -- John Burns of Pennsylvania -- did not have a Roberts. I do not have much trouble with French. I also bought a fifth coin for my Champagne collection. At the same show, I found a neat little book from the Chicago Coin Club. To celebrate their 800th meeting -- coincident with the ANA convention held in Chicago -- they published this book by asking authors for contributions. David R. Sear, Q. David Bowers, and others have essays in this work. What caught my eye first was the opening work by Al N. Oikonomedes on the portrait coins of Philip II of Macedon.
Would that be one of the WARMAN books? Warman's Coins & Currency By Alex G. Malloy, Allen G. Berman Paperback / 358 Pages / Krause Pubns Inc / November 1994 / List Price $15.95 Warman's Coins & Paper Money: A Value & Identification Guide By Allen G. Berman Paperback / 302 Pages / Krause Pubns Inc / May 2002 / List Price $21.95 Berman is pretty interesting as a person. I've already told my Berman Story. One of his online biographies says that he has spoken to groups as diverse as Cub Scout dens and MENSA chapters. I believe that this means that whether or not he was ever a Scout, he may be a member of MENSA: Allen seems sharp.
Ah. Now you have me jealous. I gave up looking for that set of books a few years ago because I simply couldn't afford it then, and my interest has since wained. I bought my `Roberts' directly from Jim. It cost me $50 or so as I recall plus postage. A fraction of what a set of P D'Avant would have set me back and (I hate to say) less hassle for me. I'd be interested to learn what you make of your acquisition (the book) in due course. right in alignment with someone's pet subject no? Ian
... or a theme... or a city... or... Within "theme" there are still many ways to express any certain aspect of a broad idea, but the basic advice to focus is well made and well taken. As I said, I have an interest in the medieval fairs at Troyes and other towns in Champagne. As a collecting topic, it is very specific to time and place. Of course, it does branch off. There were Papal imitations of Champagne deniers. Do I add them to the collection? I fear that I must. Over on CoinPeople, I mentioned Pisa of the Renaissance and the life of Fibonacci. "Florence, Genoa, Venice and Milan would be good cities to work with. We all think about Da Vinci and the Borgias and all, but what really fascinated me was the fact that they used to have ALGEBRA CONTESTS in the main square... After 1228 there is only one known document which refers to Fibonacci. This is a decree made by the Republic of Pisa in 1240 in which a salary is awarded to:- ... the serious and learned Master Leonardo Bigollo .... This salary was given to Fibonacci in recognition for the services that he had given to the city, advising on matters of accounting and teaching the citizens." It would be nice to have a coin from that time in order to wonder if this one of the ones they paid him with.
