I too am very interested in this subject, and I thank you for introducing it. I especially need guidance in and for
Medieval islamic issues, as well as middle/eastern/western european 1200-1500AD.
I use now:
Malloy/Preston/Seltman -- Coins of the
Crusader States.
R.
Ratto, Monnaies Byxzantines.
Though these are generally considered
Byzantine references, they both include a wealth of data about the very earliest
medieval coins of certain regions, and during a time of great flux and turmoil, as well.
I am totally in the dark concerning references for
medieval islamics, but have picked up a few ideas at this board already and they are going on the wishlist post haste.
My wishlist for Euro-Medievals is summed up in this note from Jim
Roberts, himself an author on the subject, who was kind enough to reply to one of my emails in depth:
I
hope you get a copy of
Grierson's overview book, "Coins of
Medieval Europe" if you don't already have it. It's the most authoritative
work that's currently available on
medieval coinage, and it does a pretty
good job of illustrating the most important
types -- not just the unique museum pieces but also the common coins that collectors run into all the time. The more detailed volumes in
his "
Medieval European Coinage" series are essential for any
area you want to know thoroughly, but the less expensive reference works will satisfy most collectors.
Dannenberg (a 4-volume set) is such a basic reference, covering all the
Germanic territory up to the mid-12th C.; that set you should try to get a copy of, whenever you can find one that is available inexpensively. For the next period of Germanic coins you need the
Bonhoff catalog, which is
still available from the
auction house, Dr. Busso Peuss Nachfolger Muenzhandlung, Frankfurt/Main (ask for Katalog 293). For later coins you arrive at the Saurmasche Muenzsammlung, which I have put online.
http://someoldcoins.org/saur/The
medieval coinage of all of the
other european countries (except
Italy and
France) are covered by single-volume reference works that are readily available. For
France I have to recommend my own
work, "The Silver Coins of
Medieval France", which actually goes far beyond the boundaries of
France and covers all of the time periods from the end of the
Roman Empire up to the year 1610 AD. Unfortunately my book is too expensive for the casual collector, but you can get a copy of it (and of
Dannenberg as well) from the
ANA's mail-order
library, if you choose to become a member of that organization.
With best wishes...
- Jim
James N.
Roberts The Silver Coins of
Medieval France (Attic Books Ltd., 1996)
http://users.rcn.com/j-roberts/ (
Medieval Islamic coins, 1997)
http://someoldcoins.org/saur/ (
Medieval German coins, 2004)