Is it a good reference?

I use it and many French coins are listed by Roberts number in the US. As with any work of the scope Roberts embraces, it can't take you deep. You don't know if the coin referenced is one of a kind or extremely common. Berman's price guide for Roberts is a help by comparing relative prices.

As my collecting interests have sharpened, Roberts has become less useful and I've had to turn to the specialized, original sources that Roberts used in compiling his book.

CGB rates many of the books they sell by their technical detail and importance (illustrations and readability as well). They rate Roberts technical detail at 2 out of 5 stars and 3 out of 5 stars for importance. Poey d'Avant's catalog of French feudal coins (one of Robert's sources) is 5 out of 5 on both measures. Sotheby's auction catalog for the Farouk Palace Collections rates 3 stars for technical detail and 4 for importance. (Not directly relevant, but a point of comparison for their system.) Sayles ancient coin series rate 2 (technical) and 3 (importance) stars. Sears Roman coins, 3 and 4. RIC, 4 and 5. Subjective to be sure, but I trust the judgement of the CGB numismatists.

Now, if you want to compare what I paid for Roberts and compare that to what I've spent on original editions and reprints in building my French library, Roberts becomes an excellent investment if you want breadth over depth.

What period does Roberts cover? (12th century?)

Not that far out 476 into the 11th century

Thanks Bill for the excellent review. I don't plan on becoming stuck in this period but I do want to get some examples over time, the same with Saxon/English coinage for the period. Online I can just see the cover and it looks like there are a good number of illustrations. Though the lack of rarity is a drawback. Ideally I'd like something like the Sear books for both French and Saxon medieval coinage. Something in the $50, up to $100. I can't justify going all out like I did with the SNS for Sasanians

Anglo-Saxon hey? Care with that as it's addictive.

actually as the full title of his book implies, Roberts covers from 476 to 1610 ad

My own viewpoint varies only a tad.

Firstly, it is the first detailed reference written in english and as such, for those who cannot read French, it is probably the single most important book covering the subject area.

As you say, it has it's limitations, not least of which is the way the coins are categorised. It is difficult at first to get used to the referencing system. Some reviewers I know actually slated it when it was first published. However, once you get used to Roberts' presentation of the coinage it does get much easier to follow and use as a reference source.

It covers Royal coins as well as feudal.

As with any subject area the more you get involved, the less relevant the general reference tombes become. Let's face it, if you are an afficionado of US coins, you are unlikely to limit yourself to only having a `Red Book' in your library. If you seriously collect UK coins you are unlikely to rely on Spinks or Coincraft to tell you all.

In the case of French coins, unless you have a penchant for reading French you are going to be VERY severely restricted in your reading materials.

I'm still struggling through my `Lettres a M. Ch. Dugast- Matifeux Sur Quelques Monnaies Francaises (Benjamin Fillon - Paris 1853) covering the money of the Carlovingiennes through to the XVI century. Nice easy (and enlightening) reading ....but in a slow kind of way.

Short and sweet....in my opinion there is no real (or better) alternative to Roberts for a general overview of the subject area (royal AND feudal)....even if you know a little French.

Teach me to rely on memory

Thanks Ian. All in all I think I will need to spring for one of these in the not too distant future. I can always take a French class if I get addicted along the way.

I did when i collected sixpences. Coincraft told me everything i needed to know, i was only collecting them by date.

I can verify your argument though with something like hammered coinage where North is your Torah, however, North is like wading through mud in comparison to CCraft.

I was totally reliant on `British Coins - Market Values' (Brit equivalent of the Red Book?) when I first started collecting. I think it cost £1. It is more than adequate for collecting by type and date. Then I graduated to Seaby. Then Coincraft. I only have a couple of `specialist' books on Brits in my library and these concern tokens.




A prime example of the `pain / pleasure' theory at work ?

It could be that each `interest area' in numismatics has its own particular cross to bear. Mine is Feuardent. A `must have' (as in `better than nothing') but terrible at the same time.

Definately the age old pleasure/pain theory!

Pl = Pn squared.