JeandAcre

Sorry if this is TMI.  But when did that ever stop me?

Eventually, Smoking was one thing I knew I could quit, so I did.  It's been a long minute.  Knock on wood --and find soome real wood.

...Speaking of famous people and the herb, there was this one guy I ran into exactly once, at the downtown public transit hub, back to the '80's (when we were both smoking).  He Insisted that he'd been a member of the Oakland chapter of the Panthers, and that Huey Newton smoked a pound a day.  Etched in memory: "A Pound!  Of Reefer!  A Day!"  Granted, I'll never know how much of that he was making up.  But aside from the entertainment value, it was plausible enough on its face.  

...Iwound up needing some more John Lee Hooker.  A friend in my home town loaned me his copy of the LP (c. 1969), during his phase of recording with troops of hippies, as a kind of informal graduate seminar on how to play the blues.  Eventually, I had to graduate to CD.  The rest of them acquit themselves remarkably well, but you'll never have trouble telling when it's Hooker on guitar.  ...I love this reading for the comments he makes at the very end of the track.

First, my latest wire denga, this time from the first Romanov tsar, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, 1613-1645.  I've gotten all of mine from the same, exceptionally reliable source who lists US ebay.  I have to love how each of them have the emblemmatic flan for the series.  Never mind the St. George and the Dragon motif, and the surprisingly well struck legend.  Incomprehensible, but duly appreciated.

With this from his reference.

And, right, for no apparent reason, the John Lee Hooker.

The judiciousness with which you've pursued this so far is admirable, even (if not especially) for a second collection.  And I have to like it that your remaining Missing Persons are only Julius Caesar and two others who are arguably no less unsavory than they are scarce.  I'm rooting for you landing a solid denarius of JC, whatever type you like best.  Sure, it could be a project....

A-Mazing.  I have to love how the obverse has the iconically Flavian retrograde legend.  That's just icing on an incredible, three-tiered wedding cake.  ...The portrait is all you could want for a late issue.

...And it needs saying, I got most if not all of these from Annes Kabel (thanks for the like, Annes!):

Who lists here, on US ebay (with shipping that's more reliable than some  US dealers):

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=266775019437&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l170197&_ssn=lubicher 

A-Mazing.  Harthacnut 1)imitating Hiberno-Norse pennies in 2)Denmark (right, vs. England) just blows my mind.  And you've got what, to my mind, is the absolute ideal for peck marks; noticeable (for what I always lke to call the added dimension of social history --Yeah, these are Vikings here!) but optimally unintrusive.  All around, it's Just Absolutely Brilliant.  

...For dramatic contrast, I was very (...very) happy to fall into even this example of a Hiberno-Norse original of Dublin.  --Yes, replete with the (otherwise restrained) double-striking, which puts an extra eye on his forehead.  All I have for this is Spink, Scotland, Ireland and the Isles [etc.] (2015; #6103), which doesn't include the classes.  But it's the first issue in Sihtric's name, after an initial two with variously blundered renderings of AEthelred. 

Hi Annes,

Sorry I can't be of any more help than this.  I'm only checking Kluge, which happens to still be open on the side table right next to my chair.  But you're absolutely right; with completely different legends, it's annoyingly similar to the issue of Erfurt (Kluge 128), and similar issues (also Heinrich III) of Halberstadt (127) and Arnstadt (128).  (A real 'selling point' of Kluge is that, unlike Dannenberg, he has photographs on the page following each set of listings, rather than all mashed together in a separate volume.  But it's still true, in more cases than not, that Dannenberg is more comprehensive.)

The flames from the church are actually walls (perhaps of a city, as in your (brilliant) ecclesiastical example at the beginning of this thread.  They slant in either direction from the central gateway; perpetuating a kind of prototype of linear perspective, noticeable at least from Roman precedents in several media.

...Back to the wildly different legends from Heinrich III's issues.  There's precedent for ecclesiastical mints, and even ducal ones, issuing close imitations of royal and imperial coins, but with their own names and mints.  (Including ones I've gotten from you --Thanks!)

--Wait!  Another feature of Kluge is that he organizes the book by imperial reign, followed by separate sections for secular feudal (generally ducal), as well as ecclesiastical issues.  

...Well, Rats.  Can't find any matches from the plates in either category.  This could well be another instance in which Dannenberg is more comprehensive than Kluge.

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.

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