Prieure de Sion

Father and son are very easy to distinguish. The bust has a crease on the forehead. So it is the father.

First of all, of course, it should be noted that in the majority of cases there is certainly no malicious intent on the part of the auction houses and shop dealers. When you list hundreds or thousands of coins, mistakes happen to all of us. And sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees. It has also happened to me that I have searched and searched and searched - but have only found one or two other examples of a coin on acsearch. I thought, wow, a very rare type. Then a friend adjusted the search criteria and suddenly "hundreds" of coins of the same type were displayed. Rare variant, my arse. But I didn't even think of his search criteria. So I don't think there must be any intention behind it. Sometimes - during a search - the human brain only sees what it wants to see. To the point: report. I am happy to be contacted by a collector. If I assign a coin incorrectly, I am happy to receive feedback. It is important for me to identify the coin correctly - and if this is wrong, it is more of a public embarrassment for me. I am therefore happy to receive information about an incorrect identification - then I can correct it.

Addendum. What problem I see for collectors (not always, but very often) - there are actually often only two choices at the moment: a) Junk coins, mass-produced goods or coins of lower quality for which you have to pay far too much money (also as a dealer and therefore a buyer). b) High-quality, special and very rare coins - for which too many collectors fight and the prices often explode. What is missing? The good mid-range coins in good condition and at a fair price are missing. The middle class is just too rare to find. Either overpriced “cheap coins” or very expensive “high-price coins”. However, the “normal” middle class coins are currently missing on the market. My opinion.

Common coins with poorer quality or common coins remain roughly stable in price or are currently falling slightly. Special coins - be it rare or the coin has something special or it is in a very rare, good condition - these prices are still rising in some cases. But this is also simply because 1-2 years ago the market was “bought empty” of very good/rare coins. Today many collectors are fighting over special / rare / well-preserved coins = prices continue to rise here. I have a lot more “problems” selling my inexpensive coins than my high-quality coins. Some of these are ripped out of my hands. From a trader's perspective.

That's a good question! In our group we found that we met the recipients who actually have a WISE account! That could suggest that - maybe. Maybe it's just a coincidence, as almost all traders also have a WISE account. Of those - including me - who received such an email, all of them also have a WISE account.

Ok, because it's you @JeandAcre - I still have one. Only for you 😉 However, "only" a Brakteat about 34mm diameter, but I think it's a nice tint. Of course, that's always a matter of taste. Heinrich der Löwe (Henry the Lion), Herzog of Sachsen, Herzog of Baiern (1129-1195 AD); Reign: Sacrum Imperium Romanum (HRR Holy Roman Empire); Mint: Braunschweig; Date: c. 1142/1180 AD; Nominal: Brakteat (Bracteate); Material: BI Silver; Diameter: c. 34mm; Weight: 0.72g; Reference: Berger 588; Reference: Denicke 23; Reference: Welter 81; Obverse: Lion on the right with linear tail tassel.

There is currently a large wave of international outgoing “WISE Pishing Emails” in all possible countries and languages. As usual, you are asked to click on the link and verify yourself. Of course, your data will be stolen. Since there is currently a big wave of pishing emails and these emails look very real, as if they were really from WISE at first glance - I wanted to draw attention to it. WISE has also confirmed that a large number of these pishing emails have reached potential customers internationally, especially in the last few days. As always, take care of your data. For me it was this sender: The email text:

Very good and interesting question for the medieval experts here...

Thanks 😉

Yes… it feel and look more like a thin paper of metal - not like a solid metal coin. I have no idea it’s possible use this coin 1200 AD for daily use and payment. It was so fragile.

I don't actually post that much anymore - but I don't want to withhold this coin. When many people think of a bracteate, they think of a small, delicate coin. Not so this bracteate with a diameter of around 42mm. I am very excited about the beautiful specimen. Friedrich II, Vogt of Oldesleben (1189-1216 AD); Reign: Sacrum Imperium Romanum (HRR Holy Roman Empire); Mint: Frankenhausen; Date: c. 1210/1215 AD; Nominal: Brakteat (Bracteate); Material: BI Silver; Diameter: c. 42mm ; Weight: 0.64g; Reference: Berger -; Reference: Leschhorn 4374; Reference: Fd. von Seega 382; Reference: Slg. Bonhoff 1234; Reference: Slg. Löbbecke 802; Obverse: Count riding on the right with raised sword, shield and banner, six-pointed star in the field on the right.

Thats a "nice" surprise today ... inside EU, from Estonia to Germany 😉 20% Premium fees - absolute ok. Thats normal. I am fine with that. - But for what 5,00 Euro "handling fees"? That i win that coin? Its your job! If someone buy a coin from me - i want my amount and my shipping costs. But i cant take money that i write a invoice or put the coin into the parcel. - DHL Express shipping for 70,00 Euro? 😄 What kind of shipping is this? Personal shipping? But... hey, 70 exclusive shipping without insurance. Insurance cost extra! I take a look at DHL Express, from Germany to Estonia cost me 30,75 Euro. No words more. - Insurance for 13,20 Euro extra (not included with the 70 Euro VIP 5* DHL shipping) Lets calculate - for Handling, DHL shipping and insurance near 90 Euro inside EU. That`s... interesting 😉

I find two similar coins for the style. First No. 482 - as you said: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=567090 And No. 485 from the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_B-12549

First of all, thank you for your assessment! I happened to get Tomasini's book and have already read a lot here. It's like you write, the legends don't always have to make sense. Or to put it another way, always looking for meaning makes no sense. The engravers were often not educated in Latin and typographical errors were commonplace. Some apparently didn't even know what they were engraving. They just copied without knowing what they were copying. In Tomasini's reference book there are examples with legends that read: "IVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV" - completely meaningless. Therefore, my legend can be anything - perhaps a mixture of partially correct and completely incorrect legend. But one thing remains - I think - this time of chaos and ruin (the ancient world) is a very fascinating time. Of course, it also entails a lot of suffering and misery, no question about it. What we find fascinating was, for people back then, the end of the world as people knew it back then. But still, this time has become very interesting for me. I previously paid little attention to the late Roman period, but I find this time of chaos and decline - from which something new grows - very fascinating. And we must not forget that an end is often needed for something new, stronger to emerge. Thank you also for your reference - I also thought of Tomassini Group JII4 - I will look up your reference again in the book later.

Leovigild (died 21 April 586 AD in Toledo) was king of the Visigoths on the Iberian Peninsula from 568 to 586 AD, and from 571/572 AD also in the kingdom of Septimania (in south-west France). He is regarded as an important ruler, as he consolidated the power of the kingdom and reorganised it along Roman lines, subjugating the Suebi and asserting himself against the Eastern Romans. However, his religious policy remained unsuccessful overall, as he was unable to unite the empire religiously on the basis of Arianism. After the death of King Athanagild, the kingdom remained without a ruler for months until the nobleman Liuva I was finally elevated to king in Septimania in 568/569 AD. Liuva made his younger brother Leovigild co-ruler, leaving Spain to him and keeping only Septimania for himself. Leovigild, whose first wife, the mother of his two sons, had died, married Athanagild's widow Goswintha. After Liuva's death, Leovigild was able to unite both parts of the empire under his rule in 571/572 AD. Leovigild's first goal was to reduce the Eastern Roman province of Spania, created by Emperor Justinian I, in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. On his first campaign in 570 AD, he was only able to wreak havoc, but was unable to conquer fortified cities. The following year, however, he succeeded in capturing Medina-Sidonia through treachery, whereupon he had the Eastern Roman garrison executed. The Eastern Romans were unable to send reinforcements and had to resign themselves to the loss of territory. In 572 AD, Leovigild was also able to conquer Córdoba and its surroundings, an area that had previously been under the control of unknown local forces. After this success in the south, Leovigild turned to northern Spain to subjugate independent tribal territories and a local ruler. In 574 AD, he defeated the Cantabrians and captured their capital Amaya (today's province of Burgos) and Monte Cildá. They had previously formed a noble republic under the control of a council ("senate"). Here, too, Leovigild ordered numerous executions after the victory and annexed the territory. He concluded a truce with Miro, the king of the Suebi. In 578 AD, he founded Reccopolis. Three years later (581 AD), Leovigild marched against the Basques and conquered part of their territory. Leovigild strove to lend his kingship imperial splendour by orientating himself on the Roman tradition. In doing so, he modelled himself not only on the contemporary Eastern Roman empire, but also on older (Western) Roman customs. This "imperialisation" of Visigothic kingship included the following measures: 1) Leovigild was the first Visigothic king to wear a special ruler's robe and sit on a throne "among his own" - i.e. also outside of diplomatic occasions. He is depicted on coins in royal regalia. 2) Before Leovigild, the Visigoths had minted gold coins with the image and name of the respective emperor, thereby respecting the emperor's prerogative. Leovigild began to add his own image and name to his coins. On the occasion of military successes (the conquest of Seville, Córdoba and Braga), coins were struck with corresponding inscriptions in accordance with Roman custom. The model for this was not the contemporary Eastern Roman coinage, but the old Western Roman coinage. 3) Leovigild also continued the imperial Roman tradition by founding cities. This was also expressed in the naming of the new cities: one was called Reccopolis (in honour of Reccared), another, founded on the occasion of the victory over the Basques, was named Victoriacum ("city of victory") by the king. This policy also included the elevation of Toledo to the new capital of the empire. Toledo appears in this function as the ruler's permanent residence from 580 AD. Leovigild arranged for a record to be made of all applicable law, i.e. the older laws and his own. One aim of his legislative activity was the legal harmonisation of Romans and Goths, thereby strengthening the unity of the inhabitants of the empire. The ethnic units (gentes) were to become one imperial people (populus). Until then, the Goths had had their own tribal law (Codex Euricianus), while the Romans had their own code of law (Lex Romana Visigothorum) based on Roman tradition. Leovigild at least partially ended this legal separation with his code; this was only finalised under Rekkeswinth. Leovigild lifted the ban on marriages between Goths and Romans, which had often been disregarded anyway, and introduced the Roman right of inheritance for daughters to the Goths as well. As in the legal system, Leovigild also strove for standardisation in the religious sphere. His goal was a common state religion for all inhabitants of the empire. He was convinced that this should be the traditional Arianism of the Goths. In 580 AD, a council of Arian bishops convened in Toledo, the only one we know of in Visigothic history. At the king's request, it passed resolutions on dogmatics and worship that were favourable to the Catholics in order to facilitate their conversion; Catholic baptism was recognised as valid. The king's intervention, even in dogmatic matters, was in line with Eastern Roman custom; it was not customary in the Arian churches of the Germanic kingdoms. The successes of Leovigild's religious policy remained sporadic; overall it failed, as Catholicism was already too strong. And now to my coin. I have received this Visigothic tremissis and would like to identify it more precisely - which is very difficult with these specimens from the migration period. I have already tried acsearch to find what I am looking for. Every tribe from every village has tried to imitate coins of the Western and Eastern Empire. So many different styles have emerged that it's hard to really tell where they came from. I have found similar examples - you have to pay attention to the style of the portrait and the Victory. This style is quite similar - pay particular attention to the head / forehead / nose of the portrait. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8267192 Which is very likely: - Visigoths - Leovigild - Narbonne style However, in order to verify and compare this with similar examples, the legend would be an important piece of the puzzle. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I find it difficult to read poorly preserved legends. It's a kind of reading error I have - I find it difficult to visualise letters when they are not clearly visible. I would therefore appreciate your help. What I can recognise. Obverse: I V N I V N ? ? I I V ? Reverse: I V I I I A I I V ?? ??? But I don't see the point here. Thank you for your help.

PS: That's good news and I'm glad to hear it!

As you can see on the previous page, I pay 55 euros from Germany to the USA with FedEx! And this price is only so “cheap” because I order shipping through a large service provider - and not directly from FedEx. Then I would pay even more. The problem with FedEx is. With DHL or UPS I have basic insurance of up to 500 euros. At FedEx (and TNT) the basic insurance is 0 euros. This means that if I were to send you coins to the USA with FedEx, I would have to pay 55 euros (see list on previous page) and would be forced to take out extra insurance because of the FedEx terms. I think I would get about 65 euros from Germany to the USA with FedEx. But now Switzerland is a very expensive country. As a Swiss, @Salomons Cat will confirm this to you. If a dinner costs 20 euros in Germany, it costs 40 CHF in Switzerland. Actually, everything in Switzerland is twice as expensive as in Germany. Almost. The wages are also significantly higher - but that is a different topic. In summary - if (!) Leu actually sends the shipment to you with FedEx, then yes, I think the 80 CHF is quite realistic. Because for me from Germany, a FedEx shipment costs 55 euros and there is no insurance included - so in the end it costs me 65 euros. About 15 euros more for the Swiss? Yes, I think that's realistic.

But i know what you "all" mean... as i said - i pay around 70 Euros for shipping a coin won at Heritage Europe from Netherlands to Germany - the neighbor country! And there is no reason collect 70 Euro for shipping from Netherland to Germany. This is simply outrageous. But you should note - at the end of 2023 I paid 21 euros for UPS from DE to the USA - today it's almost 26 euros. That's around a 25% surcharge at the beginning of 2024. All shipping service providers have increased their prices extremely (inflation and energy prices, they say). This must also be taken into account.

I can only speak for myself. Within the EU - yes! A package from Germany to France costs me less with “Deutsche Post” than UPS or FedEx. The running time is ok. And the insurance is up to 500 euros. Within Germany I almost only use Deutsche Post (5.50 euros shipping costs). Outside the EU - actually no. Because a normal letter with registered mail cannot be accepted. It is forbidden to send goods subject to customs duties in a normal letter (although some sellers do it). A registered letter from Germany to the USA costs 7.20 euros. But there is a risk that the goods will be confiscated. And it's a risk that the authorities will come after me. If I send it as an “inexpensive parcel without insurance but with tracking” with export registration, it costs me around 18 euros. But it's terribly slow. However, if I send it as a "normal package" by post, it costs almost 50 euros - and it's still slow. A UPS package comes with tracking and insurance and costs me 7 euros more than the cheap postal package - which is why I almost never use Deutsche Post outside the EU. In my shop - as an example - US customers pay 20 euros for shipping. I pay the remaining 5 euros myself. I send 99% of the time via UPS. I only use FedEx (faster, more reliable) for very expensive coins. I earn more on expensive coins - the customers still only pay 20 euros for shipping, I pay the remaining 30 euros for FedEx myself. But with coins for 2-3000 euros (or more) you can also pay a little more yourself.

And this was a normal Post DHL (not DHL Experess - this are two different companys!) shipping. From Germany to USA. As a big letter without insurance, without tracking from 12 to 19 Euro! As a parcel with tracking and with insurance 48 Euro! Thats a normal post shipping. Please attention - its not allowed to send outside EU goods with a normal letter with a normal stamp! Some seller do this. But if you send outside EU you must send it with a outside export declaration and export registration. If you send it as a letter with a normal stamp - its possible the shipment is returned or confiscated! So if you ask me as a german dealer - can you send it withouzt tracking and insurance with a simple large envelope - yes - i can - for 12 Euro! 12 Euro without tracking, without insurance as a simple large envelope "letter" shipping.

Take a look here - I ship via the service provider JUMINGO - that's a shipping provider where I get better prices. Because JUMINGO books packages from many companies with UPS, FedEx and Co, you get better prices! This means that if I booked directly from UPS and Co from Germany, I would have to pay even more money! Look - I just opened the input mask. Package 27x20x5cm with 0.5 kilos from germany to USA. The cheapest is UPS for around 25 euros. If I want to ship with DHL Express 48 euros and with FedEx and TNT I pay over 50 euros! I can't offer you the 15 euros even if I want to. But perhaps as an auction house that ships a lot you have a slightly better contract. But a small retailer cannot conclude such a contract. And then it also varies depending on the country. A dealer from Poland pays different amounts than a dealer from Germany, pays different amounts than a dealer from France, pays different amounts than a dealer from Switzerland.

One example - different prices in the countrys. And how many parcels you are sending with different conditions and discounts. When you ship 20 parcels per week you get other conditions like 1 parcel in the week. And as i said - countrys. Its impossible for me to send for 15 EUR with FedEx from Germany to Outside Germany. I never get this price here in Germany for FedEx shipping. When i sip to USA or similar - minimum 25 Euro with UPS and near 40 Euro with FedEx and TNT. UPS was the cheapest here in Germany. I know that shipping from Switzerland with FedEx is more expensive. The seller pay 40-60 CHF for a FedEx parcel from Switzerland to another land. Your 15 Euro is for a Swiss Seller not possible. He dont get this price from FedEx - no chance.

The base price is always insured - even with DHL or UPS - even if it is coins. For DHL this is 500 euros and for UPS it is 510 euros. But if coins are more expensive (class 2 securities) - then the contents are no longer insured. Then as a seller you take out extra insurance - I have this one for example: https://www.secursus.com/en-gb/

The problem with non-insurance shipping is, that it was (often) a risk for the seller. And that's why some sellers add a certain amount to cover the risk of loss. What risk of the seller? It says there, risk of loss passes to the buyer. But it's not that easy just because it's there. If I ship in Germany (or EU law), the shipping risk always lies with the seller. As a seller, I cannot simply transfer the risk to the buyer. If he doesn't receive the goods, I have to pay him back the money. End. I would lose in court - and the judge doesn't care whether we both agreed at the buyer's risk. Next uncertain point - PayPal and credit card providers. If the buyer paid with PayPal and the package/goods does not reach the buyer, then the buyer can open a case that he did not receive the goods. PayPal is not interested in the fact that the buyer has agreed to take on the shipping risk. PayPal will always (!) agree with the buyer if he has not received any goods. And then the money is withdrawn from me as the seller by PayPal. By the way, this happens often - I have experienced it myself and also with many Vcoins colleagues. And then we have credit card payments. What many people don't know - even a payment by credit card can be canceled by the buyer within 6 weeks! Of course with reasons. But the justification “I demonstrably did not receive the goods” is sufficient here too. If the customer has not received any goods, he or she can cancel. No matter what was previously agreed. The banks don't care! No goods. No money. This has happened many times too. Canceling the credit card payment always works if you haven't received any goods. As a seller, I don't know of any case where you could successfully object to this cancellation. I understand what you mean. I once had to pay almost 70 euros (!) in shipping costs for a 35 euro coin at Heritage Europe from the Netherlands to Germany. Sometimes I think whether a retailer also wants to make money from shipping. But sometimes there is also gray in addition to black and white.

The most important thing is - get healthy again Donna. I wish you all the best with all my heart and that you will soon be fit again.