Regarding BnF Catalogue général

[clueless]

Does somebody really know how to use BnF's Catalogue general to search for information on ancient coins ?

My French isn't anylonger too good, I've forgotten over the years. The URL is http://catalogue.bnf.fr/index.do and I figured out that for example the search for Monnaie:Caracalla, Cilicie, Tarse produces a listing of coins of Caracalla from Tarsos, Cilicia. All is good so far, but when I click on one of the found coins, all I get is a picture of the obverse, there is no picture of the reverse. Of course there is the entry for the coin in SNG France, but it is somewhat difficult to attribute a coin with only the obverse

Any suggestions or is the case that BnF's site is 'somewhat' dysfunctional ?

Cheers,

Clueless

[clueless]

I did find out that changing the format of the search result from public to unimarc gives alisting where you find a link towards the end, http://gallica.bnf.fr/...

Clicking on that link opens a page with both obverse and reverse. On this page you can search for coins and get both reverse and obverse, for example the serach Caracalla, Cilicie, Tarse 
You can go straight to http://gallica.bnf.fr and do your search, too. But then you have to jump back to catalog.bnf.fr to find the reference to SNG France.

There must be an easier way or have the webdesigners in France been tasting too much wine

Clueless

[esnible]

If you use Chrome the browser can translate into English.  It helped me.

If you want to search for coins go into Advanced Search and select By Document Type -> Monetiform object.

If anyone has better tips to get the other side photo let me know!  The method above is currently not working "due to capacity problems".

[Molinari]

I've never had problems searching with basic French descriptions, e.g. "Monnaies Campanie" and always get results that, when clicked, feature both obverse and reverse.  I always use Chrome.

I also downloaded the app which I highly recommend, at least for iPhone.

[n.igma]

.... There must be an easier way or have the webdesigners in France been tasting too much wine

Gallicia ... I find it the antithesis of intuitive and user friendly. But then I am reminded that this is from the country that brought the Citroën D to the world, seemingly built from the roof down, rather than the wheels up!

[Arados]

Hi Clueless,

Searching the archives of BNF seems to be working fine for me also.

Use my link to Arados and change to Tarse.

http://gallica.bnf.fr/services/engine/search/sru?operation=searchRetrieve&version=1.2&query=(gallica%20all%20%22ARADOS%22)#


Could be a lack of communication between BNF staff due to garlic breath. 

[helvetica]

When doing a normal search, I click on Auteur on the left and select the emperor or the name of the mint.
I then see a list of coins showing just the obverse. Click on that obverse and I see the obverse AND the reverse.
However, in the left hand field, you do not see the legends etc, but you do see the weight and the Paris collection number (as "Fonds Général..")