Could I add my coin to this thread? I just got this one and it has very little detail so I really do not think that it will scan or photograph well. It appears to be copper or bronze, 20mm, has a bust facing right and all that I can make out of the inscription is (and I may be wrong) "De Fran Et Polvhe". It looks a lot like the French KM16.1 Double Tournois coin from 1603-1610, but the inscription does not match. Any ideas? -Daniel
Howdy Daniel - Your coin being so different from any of those in the other thread deserves to have its own thread so I created one for you. Please post a pic of your coin, regardless of how smooth it may be, and we should be able to identify it for you. If you have to, in order to pick up remaining detail, scan the coin at a slight angle (with one edge propped up about 1/4 inch).
French coin? Well, here is a photo. As I said, I am not sure that it will do any good. I can try scanning at ahigher dpi, but I think that the "prop up the coin" trick, although a good idea, won't work because my scanner has a very shallow depth of field (so it would be out of focus). Thanks for the help. Let me know if anyone can recognize it. I have a couple of others that need different degrees of recognition, but we can save them for another time (and thread). -Daniel
Don't sell the idea of propping a coin up a bit short, give it a try, certainly can't hurt. When I get back to the house I'll look this one up for you and see if I can't identify it. Unless someone else does in the meantime of course.
You were close, it's a double tournois alright, but issued under Henry III 1590-94. The legend reads - obv - DE FRAN ET POLVHENRI III R rev - DOVBLE TOVRNOIS
That is terrific! Thank you so much. What is the reference that you looked it up in? I know that the SCWC does not have a 16th Century volume (does it?). What is the right reference for this coin? -Daniel
He's good Danielf and at time REALY GOOD LOL try placing a matchstick as a prop or even the rim of a cent :thumb:
There are other references of course, but I got that one from LES MONNAIES FRANCAISES ROYALES VOL. II by J. Duplessy. Duplessy classifies it as #1170. Ciani classifies it as #1465. And the obv legend, I gave it to you as it is presented on the coin from 12 o'clock going right. But the way it should actually be read is HENRI III R DE FRAN ET POLV
OK, I went to the library today and took out Duplessy. How in the world did you find it in there? You must have known a LOT that narrowed it down, I assume. I know that when I look up a coin, I often pretty much know what I am looking for and just use the reference to zero in and get the exact match. But there were very few clues on this coin. Is there an inscrition search that you used? -Daniel
It helps a great deal if you have a certain familiarity with the coins. I used to collect French coinage, so I know a little about it. So how do you learn about it ? Well, like anything - you study. And to study you have to have books - my numismatic library is rather extensive. You can also spend a lot of time researching things on the internet and by reading, and asking questions, on forums like this one. I've been collecting coins for almost 50 years, but I only started collecting world coins in earnest in 2002. I've studied a lot since then. And it helps if you read other languages. I've taught myself to read French, Spanish and Dutch, in regard to numismatic terms anyway. I studied Latin in school, that helps a lot too as most coins have Latin inscriptions. But in all honesty, sometimes you just have to sit down with the books and go through them, page by page and coin by coin. It can take hours to find a single coin. But you learn a lot by doing that. You become familiar with the designs of the various time periods. And once you do that it narrows down where to search and in what book. With your coin, the POLV in the legend is the main clue. There are only a few coins and from a narrow time period with that in the legend. But if you didn't already know that - well you could be looking for a long time. Take a look at my albums sometime. When you buy coins like that, you better know what you are doing or you are going to throw a lot of money away. It provides a good incentive to learn.
