JeandAcre

Ow! Sorry for having missed this post until just now! That map is Just Brilliant. I used to collect old paper, mostly ephemera and odd volumes, mostly running from the late 16th into the 18th centuries. ...Argh, true to form, having trouble finding .jpgs of anything. Interesting how the pyramids more closely resemble the (thank you, much later) Meroitic ones in modern Sudan than the early Pharaohnic originals. Granted, presumably pure coincidence; hard to imagine would be more familiar with those than the ones in Egypt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramids_of_Meroë

@Simon, Rats, the .jpgs of my billon trachy of Alexius are relentlessly eluding capture. But on your example, the completeness of the reverse legend is truly exceptional for the denomination, even as early as this. Loving that. Oddly enough, it looks as if I haven't already posted this AR histamenon nomisma. Best I can do. ...Well, for some of us, this gets to be beautiful, too. Sear 1905.

...Or, given that you're approaching this from a near-total knowledge vacuum (no sin; hence, no absolution is even called for), you could start with grouping them according to broad similarities to eachother, effectively along the lines set out by @John Conduitt. But if the legends are just too much (and there's a Lot of variation in the lettering, even within a given period), you could always feel free to skip that part. ...It sounds like you're already very keen on learning about this stuff, but that won't ever not be its own process.

All resonantly true!!! (Edit:) I was only talking about the Henry III short crosses. But you're right, as usual; the stylistic decline really does accelerate with Richard. ...You can at least blame that interval on his ongoing obsession with the French parts of the 'Angevin Empire.' I get the impression that he just didn't care for England all that much.

...Well, not that Roman Republic is anything I collect every day, I have to relate to them along the lines of Viking 'peck marks.' As long as the motifs aren't really Marred (got one of those, on an AEthelred penny), they're of subjective, as such substantive value for adding an entire dimension of historical association to the coin.

As usual @John Conduitt nailed it with a mallet! Best reference to hand is Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands [...in the Channel and Irish Sea], including Anglo-Gallic Coins (Spink, 2015), no.5029. William I, 'The Lion,' 1165-1214. Last phase; short voided cross, stars in each angle. Continued posthumously (into the reign of, Yep, Alexander II); c.1205 -c. 1230. No mint, but with the moneyers of Edinburgh and Perth working jointly. This issue is known for the wide variety of portrait styles. Rev. HVE WALTEr. (Fun for dispensing with the Latin 'VGO,' conventional among English equivalents. See below!) Obv. Profile (is that hair, or a mail coif? Not sure). (Holding sceptre, extending into the legend.) (Here, from 6 o'clock:) LE REI WILAM. (Frankly substituting vernacular Old French for medieval Latin. William and his grandfather, David I, encouraged Anglo-Norman settlement in Scotland, with attendant feudalization, along with the prominently Flemish merchant class.) It's a solid example. I only have cut halves of the same issue.

The Parsi legends are completely beyond me, unlike other people here, as @JAZ Numismatics mentioned. (You know you are! But @Parthicus immediately comes to mind.) But I do have Gobl, Sasanian Numismatics, a sometimes outdated but still useful reference. He has a whole separate set of tables for the innumerable styles of crown, arranged by reign. From that, a very slightly nearer resemblance than what @expat found might be Kavad II. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=kavad+ii&category=1-2&lot=&date_from=&date_to=&thesaurus=1&images=1&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0 If this happens to be correct, it's one of the scarcest reigns in the whole series. Kavad II ruled only briefly in 628 CE (near the end of the whole empire), before succumbing to, Yikes, plague. ...Having executed his father and brothers, following his own intra-dynastic coup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavad_II

Much more anecdotally, @Amanda, and to @sand's point about the graffito, I have to really like the banker's marks (Delta /triangle, upside-down 'V') on yours. Other people here will know much more than I do about the context, but broadly, they were marks individual bankers (or merchants?) would make on the coin to confirm its genuineness. ...Gotta say, no offense, but I for one sure hope you hang onto these.

(Sorry in advance:) ...Oops, what if it's a Harley?

...And, this way, if you ever run into a True World-Class Cleaning Maven (such as @galba68), they'll always be able to pick up where you left off. Meanwhile, though, it's already terrific. Orders of magnitude better than I'd ever do, if I spent the rest of my life learning how to.

Yes! I have to think that, at least with that level of nuance, your thesis makes all the sense in the world.

Hmmm. Please don't accuse me of having the greatest eye for die matches, but I have to be a little skeptical about that part.

Brilliant, @John Conduitt. When it come to classes of earlier Angevin pennies, I still suffer from the equivalent of math anxiety. Have to admire the Brits who are so fluent in this (yes, I've known a couple of them). But more broadly, for Henry III short crosses, at the end of what amounts to an immobilization of Henry II ones from 1180, the style of the portrait makes the reign a relatively easy summary guess. In effect, ones this late are noticeably cruder than any of the preceding reigns.

Many thanks for the illuminating background, @Ursus! I'm going to trawl around online, just to make sure there aren't any translations of the hagiographies in English. ...And, Thanks for the opportunity to add one little detail to the thread! Kickself- mode-accessing time: I neglected to include a link to Annes's listings. For an easy couple of years, he's been the only medievals dealer listing on US ebay who I've bothered to give the time of day. His shipping consistently gets Michelin three stars, for price, speed and reliability. As a dealer, he's as solid as he comes across on his thread. ...No worries; the feedback I've left him has already helped add to the competition among his clientele! :<} https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=266775019437&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l170197&_ssn=lubicher

Sorry (but, really, not so much), I'm enjoying watching Sylvester Stallone get punched that many times. ...My machine Hates .pdf as a format, and is Not Getting Along with @kirispupis' link.

Just paid for this one, from our very own Annes Kabel: Archbishopric of Mainz. Bardo, Archbishop 1031-1051. AR denar, c. 1040-1060. Obv. St. Martin of Tours (patron saint of the cathedral), tonsured, holding a crozier (as bishop of Tours, from 371). +MARTIN(VS) EPIS(CO)P(VS). (Extant ‘S’ retrograde.) Rev. City wall, with central tower and two flanking turrets; large gateway, crosslet in center. (Likely a variant legend:) (MONOCIA) CIVITAS. (Ending with another retrograde ‘S.’) Kluge 48; cf. Dannenberg 823 and Plate 35 (variant issue; similar motifs and legends). Here’s a broadly contemporaneous secular issue, of Heinrich III (‘King of the Romans’ from 1028; German emperor from 1046; d. 1056). Unfortunately, this one lacks any title, whether ‘REX’ or ‘IMP(ERATOR).’ Only the obverse portrait suggests that it may date from the imperial phase of his reign. Mainz. Heinrich III. Obv. Heinrich, wearing neo-Byzantine crown, with pendilia. +HE(INRICV)S. Rev. Church facade (evoking Carolingian and early Norman ‘temple’ motifs of the preceding couple of centuries); christogram in center. V(RBS MOGON)CIA. Kluge 139. Meanwhile, Bardo was on familiar terms with the Salians, going back to the patronage of Heinrich’s father, Conrad II, from 1029. He’s also credited with overseeing the main phases of the (re)construction of the cathedral of Mainz, dedicated to St. Martin. Along with several German cathedrals (some with obvious, but responsible rebuilding), it resonantly demonstrates the earlier but fully realized Romanesque style for which the Salian period is well known.

Yes, Duane Allman. A true genius. (Anecdotally, he did session work for, just for one, Aretha Franklin.) For that minute, there were two guitarists in the band who were on that level. (Instant edit:) They both did slide like nobody's business. ...Well, maybe John Lee Hooker. After whom, I'm done.

...Okay, @Phil Anthos, you did it. I'm needing another track from the same album, with Betts doing the lead vocal. First, a coin of no relevance at all. Henry II, King of England 1154-1189. AR penny of London, Cross-crosslet / ‘Tealby’ coinage, class A2 (c. 1158-1161). Obv. Henry facing, crowned, holding a sceptre surmounted by a cross in his right hand. (His hand, and the jewelled left /right-hand edge of his cloak, extend to the lower part of the outer edge.) [From 8 o’clock:] +h[EN]rI rE[X] ANG (‘HENRI REX ANG[LIE];’ Henry, King of England). Rev. Cross; St. Andrew’s crosslets in each angle. [From 11 o’clock:] +SWETM[AN ON L]VN (‘SWETMAN ON LVN[DE];’ the moneyer Swetman, in London.) North 952 /2 (and p. 218, ‘Tealby Coinage: Mints and Moneyers’), Spink 1137. Followed by

I've never evolved to thinking about this as a wider, general practice. But it tends to be easy to spot a dealer who's emotionally invested in what they're doing, as well as otherwise. In those instances, especially, thanking them registers as part of the joy of the whole transaction. More often than not, they're very appreciative in turn. ...But I've corresponded with lots of dealers about lots of different issues. And, I must say, have had very good luck. Even with larger dealerships, often there are individual members of the staff who are happy to correspond. ...I like to think that these run to being basically decent, nice people, and that the exceptions prove the rule.

...Oooow. One more. That's one of my all-time favorite Allman Brothers tunes, too. ...Terrific coin and brilliant tie-in.

No, go tug @galba68's sleeve, like @CPK suggested! His latest posted example is only this great:

Just, Yow. For me, it's mystifying --granted, funly so-- that you can do such a magnificent job with the detail, while leaving the patina so gloriously intact. ...I've only evolved to the level of saying, 'well, no, it's not alchemy....'

...Aah. Dannenberg does correspond, approximately, to Kluge 140 (mysteriously with a completely different reverse legend, but also of Mainz). I wasn't allowing enough latitude for variation in the reverse motif. But, yes, as an imitation, that part makes intuitive sense.

Going back years, ebay started out having rafts of fake earlier medieval silver, Anglo-Saxon and so forth. From the onset, they were all summarily laughable. Sorry to hear that it's progressed to Byzantine.

@Annes Kabel, it wouldn't surprise me for a minute if you were spot on! That's definitely in the same geographic range; as you probably know, various levels of Viking presence extended all the way across northern Poland. --I didn't even look at Dannenberg; dumbly, since he's still often more comprehensive than Kluge. Gotta make a beeline to the site that has it online! Many thanks for pointing this out!