Medieval Coin Collecting Questions.

I think most people on this forum collect Greek, Roman, and Byzantine coins. However, I do believe you can check out Vcoins to see what offerings they may have in the realm of medieval coinage. I also like medieval history, but find Roman history to be my first love. Good luck.

Regards,

sel_69l => that's very interesting, as always ...

Oh, but sadly, once again I had no idea what you were talking about, so I had to go on a research hunt to discover what "hammered coins" was all about ... so again, thanks for the interesting lead (I love learning more and more about any type of coins!!) ...

=> I thought the following pretty much described the process, or processes:

http://www.irishcoinage.com/HAMMERED.HTM

I'm curious how the term Hammered came to be used for these coins when they are basically made the same way that Roman and Greek coins are made.

It's funny, I do hammered copper work sometimes at my job and all this time I've been thinking hammered coins were just that.... hammered straight onto a flan. Learn something everyday.

The definition of "ancient" and "mediaeval" is a bit nebulous. The Ancient period is generally regarded as ending at either 476 AD (the end of the Western Roman Empire) or 498 AD (the coinage reform of Eastern Roman emperor Anastasius I that effectively begins the "Byzantine" series). The end of the "Mediaeval" period is even more nebulous, since you can pick and choose from several major historical events: the invention of the printing press (1440), the fall of Constantinople (1453), the discovery of the Americas by Columbus (1492) or the Protestant Reformation (1517). Or you can simply delineate by method of manufacture of the coins, with "hammered" equating to "mediaeval" and "machine-struck" equating to "modern". Personally, since I prefer nice round numbers, I define "Mediaeval" as the period 500-1450 AD.

Regarding fakes: you're actually much less likely to find "convincing" numismatic-quality fake mediaeval coins than you are in finding either fake ancient coins or fake modern coins. This is simply because making realistic fake mediaevals is much harder. As others have stated, mediaeval coins are very thin; it's almost impossible to make a cast copy, and machine-struck mediaevals never seem to replicate well the handmade, one-of-a-kind look that genuine mediaevals have.

Reflecting the general unpopularity that mediaeval coins have in America, English-language coin catalogues covering the entire mediaeval period are typically expensive and hard to come by; the huge multi-volume "Mediaeval European Coinage" catalogue costs $100 or more, per volume. It's typically easier to get catalogues of specific series that you might be interested in (for example, English hammered pennies).

As for sources, I've found Civitas Galleries to be a knowledgeable and reliable source; I believe it's the only US dealer I've bought mediaevals from.

It's in Jorvik, though apparently most folks spell the place "York" these days.

I have a Jorvik replica "Viking penny", too. And it illustrates well the difficulty in fabricating an authentic-looking fake mediaeval coin: it's too thick, and made of the wrong metal.

I said earlier that fakes are less likely; that doesn't meen fakes don't exist or that new collectors can't be fooled into buying a replica. The most insidious are the "tourist replica" types, often sold in gift shops at tourist-magnet places. Many such replicas are clearly stamped as such, though you do have to be aware of what the stamps mean.

One very commonly encountered replica brand is the WRL counterstamp; these are made by Westair Reproductions Limited and form the majority of fake mediaevals that have been sighted here on the forum. Here's just one example.

Fakes are usually found for popular and/or in demand coins.

Go to the bottom of the main ebay page and click on the flag that says ebay sites. Then choose your site and click on it.