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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;+VGO.DVCKS, post: 4645216, member: 110504&quot;]Doug Smith, in particular, has posted a couple of replies lately about one phenomenon that, from here, is particularly resonant.&nbsp; With apologies, I&#039;ve already lost track of the operant threads.&nbsp; But in the contexts of Phoenician coins of Tyre, and very late Byzantine, he&#039;s noted that, relative both to the module of the flan, and indifferent striking, you have to kind of pick and choose which elements of the legends and motifs you really want to show up on any given example.&nbsp; ...Thanks, Doug.</p><p>This kind of problem is endemic to earlier medievals, only most conspicuously over what corresponds to northern France, the Low Countries, and western Germany, c. 11th-12th centuries.&nbsp; Here&#039;s one iconic, collective example (pun intended), which I ran smack into just this week, thanks to ebay.&nbsp; These are issues of Speyer (/Speier), attributed to Konrad II, the Salian king (&#039;...of the Romans;&#039; effectively the reigning heir apparent) and emperor of Germany, 1024-1027-1039.&nbsp; [ATTACH=full]1147828[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1147829[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1147830[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1147832[/ATTACH]&nbsp; &nbsp; Of these, the first one became a member of the family a couple of months ago.&nbsp; The second one was listed by the same dealer just this past week.&nbsp; Bid and lost; it closed at close to twice what I got the first one for.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; ...But do you see, do you Just See, how neatly the two complement eachother, both for the legends and the motifs?&nbsp; <i>Dang</i>, I wanted that second one.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Between the two, they don&#039;t even look like a die match, but otherwise, it&#039;s as if the coiner was (that badly hung over and) switching hands.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; ...And the sad part is that, as these demonstrate, Salian and early Staufen denars (c. 11th-12th centuries) have some of the most elaborate engraving that you&#039;ll see for this period.&nbsp; ...Shifting to the similarly ambitious designs on several issues of Henry I pennies (on an effectively identical module), it&#039;s easy to see a train of influence.&nbsp; Especially in light of the dynastic connections of his only legitimate daughter, &#039;the Empress Maud,&#039; whose first marriage had been arranged by her father.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; One conspicuous, ensuing consequence of this sort of thing is that, over much of the European Medieval series, the grading (...good luck with that) is traditionally predicated as much on the strike as on the wear.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; ...Where collecting this stuff is concerned, it&#039;s like, Well, Somebody has to do it![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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