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A brief description of Potins (cast coins, cast much like Chinese cash coins on casting trees and the spur is often left where the coin was detached -- evident at 12 and 6 on the second coin, at 9 on the third, and 11 and 5 on the last can be found at this commercial site: Brief Introduction to Celtic Potins of Gaul The first two heads on the left side of the text page are early stages of my "big smiley face." The crescent is the back of the head. The eye, nose, and chin have been reduced to dots.

Four new additions over the past few months: From the Parisii, ca 50 B.C. Schematic head or skull obverse, swastika reverse. Extremely rare. From the Aulerques Éburovices, ca 60 - 50 B.C. Almost all known potins of this type were found in or near a Celtic temple. The obverse is a highly stylized head (a degenerated version of a design that is clearly a head). The reverse is a wild boar. Extremely rare type. The following two are PIXTILOS types (10 classes of designs in total). I've managed to collect 6 of the ten classes, although one is poorly preserved. I'm also collecting the Roman Republican prototypes for each class. From Carnutes, ca. 40 - 30 B.C., Class II. The obverse is a female head with the legend PIXTIL. The reverse image is a lion and lizard. Rare From Carnutes, ca. 40 - 30 B.C., Class V. The obverse is a male head with the legend PIXTIL. The reverse features a seated figure with geometric designs. Very rare.

My second purchase arrived today, A California Gold Rush History featuring the treasure from the S. S. Central America by Q. David Bowers, inscribed and signed. I love his books and I needed another 11 pounds to balance the 10 Roman Imperial Coins volumes that will be arriving next. Just to show its not all about coins, I also received a first edition (rebound) copy of Ramsy's 1853 History of Tennessee. It has the earliest reference to my Hyder lineage that I know of in print. Michael Hyder was a Wataugan, one of the earliest settlements in eastern Tennessee. His house, built pre-revolutionary war survives to this day. He made gun powder that helped arm the rebels that fought the British in the Revolutionary War and fought himself with the Over Mountain Men (think in a very general way about the farmer fighters portrayed in The Patriot). Danial Boone negotiated the purchase of their land from the Cherokee and Davy Crocket's grandfather and Michael fought together defending their homes from Cherokee attack a few days before the war officially began after they refused to side with the British (they were west of the line that defined the colonies and therefore on their own). I could go on, but I haven't figured out what would form a colonial era east Tennessee coin collection as yet. Its an idea that bounces around the back of my head every now and then.

I got my tax refund and bought some books (and some coins!). The first arrived today: The publisher's blurb is at: http://www.signature-book.com/New2Books/burdette.htm This is the first (actually the third) of three planned volumes (1905-1908 and 1909-1915 will complete the trio) on the redesign of American coins from 1905 through 1921. I no longer collect American coins, but this caught my eye. It doesn't seem to be well known and I find that a little puzzling. It seems to be well done at first glance. I've only sampled through it so far, but I'm impressed with what I've read so far. Its worth a look if you collected Liberty walkers, standing liberty quarters, mercs, or Peace dollars.

I sold my only large cent to joanjet, but I'm enjoying your cents Art. I could get hooked myself if I didn't have my other interests. You just might inspire me to return to US collecting some day.

I decided to revamp and update this thread beyond the three coins I originally posted. The comments that follow refer to the unedited version of the post. Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would edit and expand with the previous comments intact. I've deleted two images that will reappear in new entries below. "Three recent purchases to share (December through February). The first dates to about 970 and is either an issue of Thibaut the Trickster (ca. 957 to 978) or it is a bit later and is an issue of Eudes I (ca. 978 to 996). A design of this type was found in the Fecamp hoard. The coin is extremely rare (probably less than 5 known)." So: Denier, Blois Thibaut the Trickster ca. 957 - 978 Legros 928v Roberts 5054v Duplessy 573 Dumas 6928v The County of Blois held an important position in medieval France situated in the midst of extensive fertile agricultural lands. In 940, Thibaut the Trickster, founder of the House of Blois, assumed the title of Count and built the infrastructure to protect the populace from the invading Bretons and Normans. By 987, the Counts of Blois were poised as rivals of the Capétiens. The family was intimately tied to the Capétians and the royal lineage. Thibaut's mother was the sister of Eudes king of France (888-897). Eudes himself had been count of Blois and Anjou, abbot of St. Martin of Tours, and count of Paris. Her other brother, Robert, was king of France from 922-923. His son, Hugh the Great, was father of Hugh Capet, the first of the Capétian line of French kings.

Manuel de Numismatique Francaise, IV, Monnaies Feodales Francaises by A. Dieudonne (Editions Auguste Picard, Paris. 1936) Numismatique Medievale by Marc Bompaire and Francoise Dumas (Brepols, Turnhout, Belgium. 2000) Not many pictures and I don't read French! Slow going, but I use them as references in research and translate what I need as I need it. Time for me to retire and take a French class.

I like the 1901 Prussian commemorative. I owned one once in proof. The detail is incredible. I eventually sold it (along with a few other coins) to buy a 1942/41 dime. It wasn't anywhere near proof or even AU, more like VF, but I think I enjoyed that coin even more. The overdate is so dramatic! Alas, it too has passed on for someone else to enjoy. Great coins!

Count Theobald IV of Blois is likely represented by the coins of Châteaudun, specifically Poey d'Avant 1829, Caron 116, Caron 119 or one of the many varieties of deniers or obols of this type. The coins are issued without legend as to ruler, so the attribution is determined by the proposed date of the type (based on hoards) and who was count at the time. I've include an obverse image of a denier below.

I came upon this thread scanning through old posts. The nice thing about archives is that the threads never really die. Then again, maybe no one will notice I've even added to thread, but here goes. I started with a gros of Philip le Bel, purchased to see if I had any interest in medieval France. It was okay, but still lacking something. My next purchase was a temple denier of Louis the Pious. Now I was getting interested. I knew I wanted to collect something French (the reasons had nothing to do with coins), so I defined a broad topic of Celtic Gaul through Medieval France. I supposed I would expand it into the present, so I thought I would focus on representative coins of rulers, periods, emperors, etc. As I began acquiring pieces, my interests became more refined. Because of my archaeological research interests in prehistoric art and its role in religon, I decided to concentrate on coins with temples. That led me to a temple image on a Celtic coin of the Chartres region with the inscription PIXTILOS. I had already acquired a magnificient PIXTILOS coin with a bird eating berries out of a disembodied hand. Now I had two and an interest in who PIXTILOS might be. Lo and behold, Scheers had written an article on the 10 PIXTILOS varieties and their Republican Roman inspirations. Now I had a reason to add republican coins to the collection. So, my themes emerged: Celtic Gaul with an emphasis on the Carnutes region, specifically PIXTILOS varieties. Anything interesting (for my tastes) and well preserved. Roman Republican models for Celtic coins in my collection and republican coins with Celtic themes (heads, armor, trophies, etc.). Roman Empire coins minted in Gaul by emperor. Emphasis on temples or other religious themes such as altars, the chi-rho, Gallic wars, etc. Merovingian and related representative coins. Carolingian by type and emperor. Edict of Pitres cities for Charles the Bald. Medieval coins of the region of Blois and Chartres with an abstract portrait dating to the period between 950 and about 1350. I'm sure other interests will arise as time goes by, such as the coins of the period around the Blois-Chartres region, the royal coins of the same period, and the precursor types and types that immediately follow the bléso-chartraine period.

I used to collect US type, overdates, etc. Slabs drove me out of the area. German, Frankfurt a real interest, but I specialized in Hitler medals and wrote book about them. Norwegian coinage next, a divorce drove me out of collecting for awhile. Interest in one of my rare Hitler medals rekindled my collecting interests and now I specialize in Celtic Gaul, Roman Gaul, Merovingian, Carolingian, and feudal France. I've also maintain a growing collection of aluminum coins, medals, and tokens. I can always find something when money is tight, although my tastes have turned to more expensive pieces as my collecting budget has expanded.