TERMS: All items guaranteed genuine. 7 day return for any reason. Payment may be made by check or money order. Money orders receive 48 hour shipment. Postage within US $3. Postage overseas $12. I have multiples available of many items on this page (this is why I use line drawings, not photographs), but feel free to e-mail for confirmation of availablility before mailing payment.
FREDERICK THE SIMPLE KING OF SICILY Splendid example of Gothic art captured on a large (about 1 inch wide)
silver coin of the era. This Pierreale depicts the eagle of Sicily on one side,
the shield of Aragon on the other. 1355-1377
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MEDIEVAL SICILY MINOR COINS As a crossroads of the Mediterranean, Sicily often had an active economy, necessitating the need for small base silver and bronze coins for petty commerce. These coins were struck from the 1100s to the 1400s by Norman, Hohenstaufen, Angevin and Aragonese monarchs, with a diversity of symbols and images. G-VG (low grade).....6.00
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MEDIEVAL SERBIA with CHRIST ENTHRONED Silver dinar of Czar Dushan, 1331-1355. Helm with elaborate crest
on obverse, Christ enthroned on the reverse. About 18mm diameter,
most have clipping typical of the era, and a validation countermark.
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RENAISSANCE GERMANY
Brass jeton from Nuremberg, ca. 1480-1635, depicts rose surrounded
by fleurs and crowns. Reverse shows imperial orb. These were used
throughout Europe, from London to Moscow. Combined with a checkered
cloth (hence the English "exchequer") they served as medieval calculating
devices. Usually 3/4 inch or larger.
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TIBET SILVER c.1875-1929 Ga-den Tanka from land of the Dalai Lama. Obverse has Eight petalled
flower and "Palace of Celestial Beatitude, victorious on all sides."
Reverse shows Lotus surrounded by petals with lucky symbols. Diameter
1 inch or more. |
LION OF THE DALAI LAMA
This Lion probably the Snow Lion, one of the Four Dignities, mythical
animals which represent various qualities. The lion in particular
represents cheerfulness and clarity of thought. Its beauty and dignity
stem from its synchronized body and mind. He is typically depicted
looking back.
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CRUSADER CASTLE COIN
Silver denier struck by a contemporary When the Crusaders conquered
their ally, the Byzantine Empire, in 1204 they divided it among themselves
into a number of petty principalities. The base silver deniers were
struck to look like the French deniers tournois familiar to them back
home in Western Europe. The obverse of each has a simple cross. The
apparently abstract design on the reverse was taken at the time to
be a castle, and is called a chatel tournois. Approximately U.S. cent
size.
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FRENCH CASTLE COIN
When is a castle not a castle? When the design on the coin has been
through so many changes that nobody alive remembers what it started
out as. By the 1100s and 1200s when these deniers tournois were struck,
the temple which appeared on the coins of Charlemagne had degenerated
and changed to the point where it no longer resembled a temple at
all. To the medieval peasant, king and coin engraver as well, it was
the far more common image of a castle, the chatel tournois. Base silver,
approximately U.S. cent size. |
CRUSADER KNIGHT One of the few medieval coins to actually show a portrait of a knight.
Crusader Antioch silver denier, ca. 1163-1233.
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© 2008 Allen G. Berman