Medieval Monday

[JeandAcre]

Sorry for the dealer's pics.

 

Austria: Duchy of Carinthia: Bernhard von Sponheim, 1202-1256.  AR 'Freisacher' denar /pfennig.

I have exactly no reference for Freisachers; here's a listing from CNG.  https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=339814 

Despite the flan flaw, I have to like it for the exceptional strike, with an amazing amount of obverse legend (...wish I could make any sense of it).  Also for the way it echoes double facing portraits on Salian denars back to the 11th century.  

Any help with the attribution and /or documentation would be cordially appreciated!

[John Conduitt]

19 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

Sorry for the dealer's pics.

 

Austria: Duchy of Carinthia: Bernhard von Sponheim, 1202-1256.  AR 'Freisacher' denar /pfennig.

I have exactly no reference for Freisachers; here's a listing from CNG.  https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=339814 

Despite the flan flaw, I have to like it for the exceptional strike, with an amazing amount of obverse legend (...wish I could make any sense of it).  Also for the way it echoes double facing portraits on Salian denars back to the 11th century.  

Any help with the attribution and /or documentation would be cordially appreciated!

Interesting coin. It seems a lot of these are sold, but not with any closer attribution than what's on Numista. Apparently, they were made very similar even in different mints.

[JeandAcre]

Many thanks, @John Conduitt!  The way that your link leads us even further southeast is making me sit up.  Before seeing this Wiki article, I'd always blithely assumed that the duchy was reducible to the western part of modern Austria.  Silly me.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Carinthia 

In my inadequate defense, the family of the the dukes began life as counts of Sponheim /Spanheim, on the Rhine. 

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponheim_Castle 

That put them far enough west to have married into the family of the counts of Champagne, in the earlier 12th century.  Effecting something, anyway, of a chronological bridge from the Salian prototypes of the reverse motif here, to Bernhard himself.

...But, Yeah, as of Bernhard, Carinthia was still on the frontier of the German 'imperial' border.*  Here's my other denar of Bernhard.  Posted any number of times, but still fun for the sheer minimalism of the principal device.  There's Bernhard, in chain mail, brandishing a sword, with a shield whose fess (the charge, or armorial device) coincides with the arms of the duchy.  As if to say, 'Mess with me, and watch what happens.'

*I will always need Voltaire's comment on the Holy Roman Empire --granted, as of the 18th century: that it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by JeandAcre
Font size (which isn't cooperating at the moment)

[Ursus]

20 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

Any help with the attribution and /or documentation would be cordially appreciated!

Nice! Your coin is Corpus Nummorum Austriacorum (CNA) 1, Cn4. It was minted for Bernhard of Carinthia (1202–1252) at the mint of Landstraß, today Kostanjevica na Krki in Slovenia. Here is the relevant catalogue entry and picture from CNA. Your example is the variant without the cross in the exergue on the reverse:

[JeandAcre]

Huge, Huge Thanks, @Ursus!!!  I'm copying and pasting your whole post to a Google Docs document.  ...This is Brilliant.  Thanks again.

[UkrainiiVityaz]

 

It is not often that you can have a 750+ year old coin that was minted in a structure that still stands, but this coin was minted in Waterford, Ireland during the reign of Edward I 1272-1307 in what is known as Reginalds Tower:

 

 

The tower was believed to have been constructed from approximately 1253-1280.

[Ursus]

On 12/24/2022 at 11:03 PM, UkrainiiVityaz said:

 

It is not often that you can have a 750+ year old coin that was minted in a structure that still stands, but this coin was minted in Waterford, Ireland during the reign of Edward I 1272-1307 in what is known as Reginalds Tower:

That is what I call beautiful toning! A very nice example.

 

Here is a late medieval shilling from the Hanseatic city of Lübeck in northern Germany. Note the old collection number "63" written on the reverse. I doubt many collectors would mark their coins that way today:

Lübeck, City, AR shilling, after the recesses of 1468. Obv: +.MONETA.NOVA.LVBICENSIS; double eagle. Rev: +.CRVX.FVGAT.OMNE.MALVM, long cross with civic arm in quatrefoil in center. 25mm, 2.33g. Ref: Behrens 62, Jesse 522.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Ursus

[JeandAcre]

@Ursus, kindly allow me to second you about @UkrainiiVityaz's amazing example.  The convergence of toning and condition are magnificent.

@UkrainiiVityaz, the backstory with Reginald's Tower is extremely cool, including how recently it had been built at the time of issue.  

...Funly, the French feudal series is rife with instances of 'Castri' or a variant in the mint signature, perhaps to underscore the coins' official nature.  Here's an example, replete with a little schematic of the castle.  Yes, this has been posted before, but I can't resist.

County of Champagne, Thibaut IV, 1201-1253; of age from 1222).  Denier of Provins.

Obv. Cross; crescents, Alpha and Omega in angles.  +TEBAT COMES.

The peigne (comb); a canting device (non-heraldic) for Champagne.  Above: larger tower with two smaller ones to either side.  (From 3 o'clock:)  PRVVINS CASTRI.

Here's a pic of the Tour de Cesar, built around 1180 by Thibaut's grandfather, Henri I, looming above the enciente.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Provins_(77),_tour_César,_vue_depuis_le_sud-ouest_3.JPG?uselang=fr 

Adam. Corpus des Monnaies Feodales Champenoises, 307-323 passim.

Edited December 25, 2022 by JeandAcre
Oops, just the reference....

[Nap]

Here is an English Northumbrian coin:

Aethelred I, king of Northumbria, 1st reign 774-779
Mint: York (probably)
S.850, N.180
O: EDI[LR]ED (retrograde)
R: Quadruped right, triquetra below

A very archaic Northumbrian coin, with crude die cutting.  The letters vary wildly in size and the quadruped on the reverse is hard to appreciate, but the crudeness evokes something about the chaotic time.  Aethelred was king twice, during his first reign he was a child, and may have been a puppet for his father, the previously deposed Aethelwald Moll.  Aethelred and Aethelwald issued coins together, and these die link to coins just in the name of Aethelred, suggesting a possible joint reign not attested in the history books.  Aethelred, or possibly his regency council, arranged for the murder of three of his noblemen, which led to further unrest.  Aethelred was deposed in 779 but not killed, possibly on account of his age.  It generally was not good sense in this time to leave the ex-king alive.  In 789, after king Aelfwald's assassination, Aethelred returned and became king again.  However his second reign would also be turbulent.  He moved to eliminate rivals including the children of his predecessors.  At one point he would have one of his nobles, Eardwulf, assassinated.  Curiously, though left for dead, Eardwulf would survive and make a comeback (see separate post).  Aethelred's second reign would end in disaster.  While he can at least partly be blamed for the internal mess, it was no fault of Aethelred's what happened in 793.  Vikings appeared in England for the first time, sacked the monastery at Lindesfarne, and the Viking age begins.  In this turbulence, Aethelred's time was running out.  In 796 Aethelred was murdered by his nobles.

Aethelred's coinage is fairly numerous, but mostly belonging to his second reign, where no quadruped appears but only the name of the king and his moneyer, or his archbishop.  The first reign coinage is very rare.

[Spaniard]

Bit of eastern spice..

Kashmir

Jayasimha (common legend) 1128-1154/5
Copper Kaserah or Punchshi 17/18mm (5.22gr)
Obverse- Goddess Ardochsho/Lakshmi seated 'Ja ya' left 'sim'(ha) right
Reverse- King facing

[John Conduitt]

1 hour ago, Nap said:

Here is an English Northumbrian coin:

Aethelred I, king of Northumbria, 1st reign 774-779
Mint: York (probably)
S.850, N.180
O: EDI[LR]ED (retrograde)
R: Quadruped right, triquetra below

A very archaic Northumbrian coin, with crude die cutting.  The letters vary wildly in size and the quadruped on the reverse is hard to appreciate, but the crudeness evokes something about the chaotic time.  Aethelred was king twice, during his first reign he was a child, and may have been a puppet for his father, the previously deposed Aethelwald Moll.  Aethelred and Aethelwald issued coins together, and these die link to coins just in the name of Aethelred, suggesting a possible joint reign not attested in the history books.  Aethelred, or possibly his regency council, arranged for the murder of three of his noblemen, which led to further unrest.  Aethelred was deposed in 779 but not killed, possibly on account of his age.  It generally was not good sense in this time to leave the ex-king alive.  In 789, after king Aelfwald's assassination, Aethelred returned and became king again.  However his second reign would also be turbulent.  He moved to eliminate rivals including the children of his predecessors.  At one point he would have one of his nobles, Eardwulf, assassinated.  Curiously, though left for dead, Eardwulf would survive and make a comeback (see separate post).  Aethelred's second reign would end in disaster.  While he can at least partly be blamed for the internal mess, it was no fault of Aethelred's what happened in 793.  Vikings appeared in England for the first time, sacked the monastery at Lindesfarne, and the Viking age begins.  In this turbulence, Aethelred's time was running out.  In 796 Aethelred was murdered by his nobles.

Aethelred's coinage is fairly numerous, but mostly belonging to his second reign, where no quadruped appears but only the name of the king and his moneyer, or his archbishop.  The first reign coinage is very rare.

Interesting coin. The quadruped is very popular on Northumbrian coinage but not as crude.

[JeandAcre]

This is kind of cheating, since I did one yesterday.  It's a brand new acquisition, though; more of the Salians I've gotten turned on to only over the past couple of years.

Heinrich III, 'King of the Romans' 1039-1046; Emperor 1046-1056.  Denar of Erfurt, from after the coronation and reform of 1046.  I don't even know who the guy in the church is, but he resembles contemporary renditions of St. Peter, replete with the 'Jewfro.'

Dannenberg 883, Kluge 128.

With cordial thanks to @Coinmaster's link in his superb thread, 

To wit, this page:

https://www.mittelaltermuenzen.com/erfurt 

[John Conduitt]

A coin of Kebek Khan, ruler of the Golden Horde, a descendent of Jochi (and so Genghis). This was a pretty messy period, with lots of family infighting. Kebek allied with the Lithuanians, but didn't last long.

Kebek Khan ibn Tokhtamysh Dang, 1413-1414

Saray. Silver, 0.90g. Obv: Sultan the Just. Rev: Kebek Khan (cf Zeno 206479).

[Nap]

English penny of Henry II Plantagenet, 1154-1189.
Short cross coinage
Moneyer: Raoul
Mint: London
Class 1c, S. 1345

Considered by some the most accomplished of English kings, Henry build the great Angevin empire of England, Ireland, and much of France through conquest, marriage, and diplomacy.  He was eminently successful from a military standpoint, and purportedly was a fair ruler for the time, but his legacy that is remembered today was largely his failures:

He married well, in that his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, had huge... tracts of land... (obligatory Monty Python reference), but Eleanor was no obedient housewife, content to sit in the shadows and occasionally play the role of peacemaker.  She was the wealthiest woman in the Western world, had the power and influence, and knew how to use it.  She had already married and divorced the king of France before she married Henry.  While Henry and Eleanor produced 8 children (!), the relationship was tempestuous.  Perhaps not as bad as it was depicted in "The Lion in Winter" but certainly not a happy union.

Next on Henry's problem list were his sons, who were all at one time or another in revolt.  Even Henry's favorite son, John, turned against his father at the end of his life.

Perhaps his most famous utterance was the (perhaps apocryphal) "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?"  This directly led to the assassination of one of Henry's nemeses, Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The optics of killing the Archbishop, especially having a bunch of armed knights drag him out of the church and hack him to pieces, was not great.

The final failure was not really Henry's fault.  His empire would collapse in a generation.

Henry's coinage had two main variants, a cross-with-crosslet type ("Tealby" pennies) which are generally poorly produced and crude, and a short cross type of better style.

 

[JeandAcre]

Brilliant short cross, @Nap.  And I couldn't agree with you more about Henry II.  Not only was he signally accomplished on numerous levels (including a level of literacy to match Eleanor and her court), he's one of the few medieval European monarchs to strike me as being a resonantly sympathetic character.  He very consciously resorted to war only as a last resort.  Kind of General Sherman -like.  ( "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell.")

For anyone interested who doesn't have it yet,  the definitive biography remains, to my knowledge, the one by W. L. Warren.  Between numerous reprints, including paper, I'd hope it's still very readily available.  It's also unusually readable for the genre.

[Ursus]

Here is my first 2023 purchase, a 14th century witten (fourpence) from Lübeck in northern Germany:

Lübeck, City, AR witten, before 1379 AB. Obv: ✻MONETA:LVBiCEN’; double eagle, pellet in left lower fielf. Rev: ✻CIVITAS:INPERIALI’; cross with quatrefoil in center. 19mm, 1.23g. Ref: Jesse 302; Behrens 44.

[JeandAcre]

@Ursus, the lettering on that one is quintessentially 14th century.  Very cool!

By contrast, here's one that's been kicking around long enough never to have been posted here.  Norman; not in Duplessy --and currently buried under a pile of books; but attributed, I thought reliably, to William II (1089-1100).  Just enough of the border legend is there to leave me scratching my head --it almost looks as if it was a real legend.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by JeandAcre
Something weird happened to the .jpg of the obverse.

[Ursus]

This week, I will show another 14th century coin from Lübeck. The main design difference to the coin that I posted above is the appeareance of a six-rayed star in the center of the reverse.

In 1379, the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Hamburg and Wismar decided to unify their currency. Rostock, Stralsund, and Lüneburg joined this "Wendish Coinage Union" in 1381, other northern German cities followed later on. The common coin of this Hanseatic monetary union was the witten, a silver piece worth four pennies.  Coins minted after the decision of 1379 bear the issuing cities arms on the obverse and a cross with a six-rayed star on the reverse. This makes it possible to distinguish witten minted for the monetary union from their earlier predecessors.

In 1379, a witten had a nominal weight of 1.33g silver with a purity of 937,5/1000. On later issues, the star is exchanged for other marks (empty circle in 1387, arms on both sides in 1403, long cross in 1410).

Lübeck, City, AR witten, after 1379 AD. Obv: ✶MONETA:LVBICENS’; double eagle. Rev: ✶CIVITAS:IMPERIAL’; cross with six-pointed star in center. 18mm, 1.18g. Ref: Jesse 361; Behrens 48.

 

[JeandAcre]

Thanks, @Ursus, for holding up this tent single-handedly!  Your copious knowledge of the  context is a fantastic complement to a terrific coin.  I really like the no-nonsense, 'just the facts, Ma'am' legends --easy to imagine that being very much in character for a powerful mercantile league like the Hanses.  (I just googled it, and 'hanse' is now an English word for 'guild.') 

[John Conduitt]

Keeping in the 14th Century...

Hugh IV 2nd Series Gros Petit, 1324-1359

Famagusta, Cyprus. Silver, 2.27g. King seated without cross at neck; no fieldmarks; hVGVE REI DE. Cross of Jerusalem; + IERVSAL'M E DE ChIPRE (Metcalf 572 var). Not many were struck (fewer than 40 obverse dies were used) but many survived in hoards buried during Genoese attacks in the 1370s and 1380s.

Edited January 24, 2023 by John Conduitt

[TheRed]

I've been away from coins for most of 2022, but I did manage to pickup a rare class 6c2 penny of Henry III from the mint at Canterbury.  This class is known for having very unique ornamental letters in the obverse and reverse legends that aren't replicated in other coins of the series. For this coin it is the letters C, E, and R. Some have attributed the class to the occupation of the mints of London, Bury, and Canterbury by Prince Louis of France in 1216.  While I can't speak to that, it would make for quite a historical coin.  An English penny struck by a French prince if you will.

Henry III Short Cross penny 1216-1217 AD class 6c2, Canterbury mint, HIVN moneyer. SCBI Mass 1795

Ex J.J. North, J.P. Mass, W.J. Conte collections

[Severus Alexander]

Great to see you here, @TheRed!!  That's a wonderful Henry III.  In addition to the attractive lettering, it has a nifty portrait!

Following up on @JeandAcre's great Norman denier from a couple weeks ago (Dumas plate XIX #24, yes?)... I grabbed this coin cheap over the weekend:

Not exactly a beauty, but none of the later ones are, are they?  Thing is, I'm not sure of the type.  The crescents on the obverse are interesting; normally they open inwards rather than out, and there aren't too many issues with crescents rather than pellets (see e.g. Dumas plate XVI #16 - possibly William the Conqueror).  On the reverse, I wonder if I see "PAX" enclosed by crescents, like some issues attributed to William the Conqueror.  Any thoughts?  (I don't have the relevant Duplessy volume...)

AND... I picked up a Pavia Charlemagne!!!  A bit beat up, but still...

[Ursus]

10 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

AND... I picked up a Pavia Charlemagne!!!  A bit beat up, but still...

Congrats – that is a lovely coin.

 

14 hours ago, TheRed said:

I've been away from coins for most of 2022,

Good to see you here!

 

It's not quite Monday anymore, but I'll post another witten that I picked up recently. This time, it's a coin from Hamburg:

Hamburg, City, AR witten, after 1387 AD. Obv: ×MONETA:HAMBURGES; city castle with three towers. Rev: ×BENEDICTVS: DEVS; cross with empty circle in center, nettle leafs in quadrants. 18mm, 1.29g. Ref: Jesse 380a.

[JeandAcre]

22 hours ago, TheRed said:

I've been away from coins for most of 2022, but I did manage to pickup a rare class 6c2 penny of Henry III from the mint at Canterbury.  This class is known for having very unique ornamental letters in the obverse and reverse legends that aren't replicated in other coins of the series. For this coin it is the letters C, E, and R. Some have attributed the class to the occupation of the mints of London, Bury, and Canterbury by Prince Louis of France in 1216.  While I can't speak to that, it would make for quite a historical coin.  An English penny struck by a French prince if you will.

Henry III Short Cross penny 1216-1217 AD class 6c2, Canterbury mint, HIVN moneyer. SCBI Mass 1795

Ex J.J. North, J.P. Mass, W.J. Conte collections

@TheRed, absolutely everything about this one is phenomenal.  With everyone in the provenance list a published authority on the field.  Just, Yipes.

I really, really need the historical interval.  As we took notice of in our messages, it's too bad those remarkable letter forms aren't an easy match with contemporary French convention.  ...I wonder if Louis of France kept the 'HENRICVS' legend out of pragmatism, since it was already immoblized, Henry III's being a namesake or not. 

...Meanwhile, though, the pronounced Gothic element in the lettering strikes me as a kind of harbinger of the legends of Henry's later Voided Long Cross issue.  Regardless, the esthetics --and the sheer unconventionality, for the period-- really pop.  As in, firecrackers.

[Nap]

Busy all day yesterday, so it’s Medieval Tuesday!

 

 

Hugh Capet, king of France 987-996
with Bishop Herve of Beauvais
Denier
O: HVGO REX HERVEIS
R: BELVACVS CIVITAS
Duplessy 1

Hugh, the first Capetian king, issued coins with otherwise little known Bishop Herve of Beauvais.  His coins copy the Carolingian monogram, probably for familiarity and propaganda to show a dynastic continuation.

This scarce denier is the only collectible coin of Hugh, with a couple other types known but only from one or two examples.