Updates
Another update with 6 coins
February 26th, 2020Here's another update, with 6 coins. Besides adding a couple of coins, I moved a Guy of Dampierre imitation (my catalogue # 0095) to the Enigmatic Pollard and Crockard chapter. The style doesn't fit in the regular issue and shows a lot of simularties with the enigmatic coins. Especially the bust is of the same type.
These coins are added:
- #0316, a rare William I the Rich sterling (ED ligated variety)
- #0317, an Ex Elsen Guy of Dampierre sterling, Mayhew 15
- #0318, a (cut?) half sterling by Hartrad of Schönecken imitation
- #0319, an unknown variety of a John I of Brabant penny, Brussels mint
- #0320, a cut half Louis IV of Bavaria sterling, a present by a good friend
- #0321, a worn Ferry V of Lorraine sterling
Elsen Auction 143
February 24th, 2020On 07/12/2019 the auction firm Jean Elsen & ses Fils held their 143rd auction. During this auction the collection of Van Meert (a collector from Dinant, Belgium) was sold. This collection contained many sterling imitations and I was lucky enough to buy a few lots. This update will show the coins:
- #0308, a lovely and rare coin by William of Hainaut, Cambrai mint
- #0309, a M36 John of Avesnes sterling, from a lot of 4 coins (1/4)
- #0310, an Enigmatic Crockard, based on a John II of Avesnes sterling (2/4)
- #0311, a M34 John of Avesnes sterling, from a lot of 4 coins (3/4)
- #0312, another M34 John of Avesnes sterling, from a lot of 4 coins (4/4)
- #0313, a nice Mayhew 35 sterling by John of Avesnes
- #0314, again an Enigmatic sterling, based on a Guy of Dampierre sterling
- #0315, a rare variety of an Arnold of Looz sterling
Seven coins added
February 23rd, 2020A couple of rare Louis imitations are added. One is a Louis of Nevers imitation, the other 2 are issued by Louis VI, Count of Chiny. All 3 are very rare coins. In total I have added 7 coins with this update. A new John the Blind imitation and a few double coins, included the very rare sterling struck at Dalhem Castle. Below you can find the links:
- #0301, a very rare imititation by Louis VI of Chiny
- #0302, the first very rare Louis of Nevers sterling
- #0303, the second very rare Louis of Nevers sterling
- #0304, the rare coin struck at Dalhem Castle near Maastricht
- #0305, an imitation by John the Blind
- #0306, a thankful gift by a detectorist: Arnold of Looz, Mayhew 66
- #0307, a second copy of an Arnold of Looz pollard
Widekind VI imitation (#300!)
December 31st, 2019On the last day of 2019 I found a little bit of time to update the site with coin #300! A very rare coin, with a great provenance: a voided long cross imititation, issued by Widekind VI. Only a couple of this type were found in the Brussels Hoard of 1908.
An enigmatic Crockard and Pollard
October 20th, 2019Still little is know about the "Enigmatic Crockards and Pollards" and they are hard to find. Sometimes one comes by for sale and luckily enough I was able to buy two pieces. One a little variety of a known sterling, the other probably struck with known dies but not in this combination. One theory is dat they used dies without paying attention if the dies belonged to each other. If it looked good, it was accepted as genuine money!
- #0298, a Guy of Dampierre obverse with a Mons reverse.
- #0299, the style doesn't look right and this John II of Avesnes coin fits in the enigmatic series.
Soon #300 will be added to my website. I saved a special one for this occasion!
Two modern fake coins + 4 others
June 1st, 2019Recently I bought an unknown coin, which looked like a crude Floris V of Holland crockard. When it arrived, it appeared to be made of an aluminium alloy which means it is not an old forgery but modern one. Some time ago I acquired a lead cast short cross penny which appears to be modern looking at the amount of exact same fake coins which were offered on eBay. Both are now listed to my site at the Modern Fakes section.
Also 3 other coins are added:
- #0293, a cut half imitation by Bernhard III of Lippe, Lemgo mint
- #0294, a very rare type of a Bernhard III of Lippe sterling
- #0295, a cut farthing of a contemporary forged Henry III penny
- #0296, a cut half continental imitation of a class 3 Henry III penny
An extremely rare Simon of Lippe sterling
December 28th, 2018Today only one coin added to the site, but it's an extremely rare one. It is issued by Simon I of Lippe, probably at the Lemgo mint. Unfortunately it's damaged but have never seen one for sale before. I'm verry pleased with this acquirement! Wish you all a healthy 2019 with lots of new coins!
A few short cross imitations added
November 16th, 2018This time a few short cross imitations / forgeries are added to the site. Unfortunately little is known and just a few articles are written about them. Feel free to contact me if you have more information!
- #0285, an interesting short cross imitation, probably from the Westfalen area
- #0286, a very crude short cross forgery
- #0287, a rare short cross imitation by Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
- #0288, based on Scottish coins and issued by Bernhard III, Horn mint!
- #0289, another German short cross imitation of great quality
- #0290, a rare imitation issued by Adolf I, Count of Mark
- #0291, this imitation is minted in Vechta under Adolf II of Ravensberg
7 Edwardian imitations added
September 30th, 2018Below some nice additions to the site, all Edwardian imitations or forgeries:
- #0278, a rare pollard type sterling by Guy of Dampierre
- #0279, another Guy of Dampierre pollard, with an interesting error
- #0280, a continental imitation of the EDWRE series
- #0281, an "EC MONETA NOSTRA" sterling
- #0282, a crockard issued by Hugh of Chalon, Statte mint
- #0283, a continental imitation, based on a York Edward I penny
- #0284, a base forgery of an Edward I penny
8 Imitations added
August 25th, 2018I wanted to update more fequently but there was a delay. Finally found some time add 8 long cross sterlings to the site; including a few vary rare ones! One of them is a fantastic Arnhem sterling by Renaud of Guelders. Probably one of the best I've ever seen. But there's also a rare Marie of Artois penny and William I, The Rich, minted in Viesvielle (third known!); both bought @ Jon Mann, who somehow gets his hands on the most rare types of the panet. And finally, after many years of searching, I got a Floris V sterling mintend in Dordrecht. Well, it's a piece of it, but still very happy. The full list:
- #0270, a Ferry IV, Toul, sterling
- #0271, a very rare Marie of Artois imitation
- #0272, a very rare William I, The Rich, sterling of the Viesvielle mint
- #0273, a second copy of a Marche-en-Famenne halfpenny by John the Blind
- #0274, a crockard by John I of Brabant
- #0275, a lovely Arnhem sterling by Renaud of Guelders
- #0276, a rare Sede Vacante sterling minted in Cambrai
- #0277, a piece of a Floris V sterling, Dordrecht mint
6 Voided long cross pennies added
December 28th, 2017It has been a while but I've been busy with other things. Doesn't mean that there are no coins to be added though! I try to do more, smaller, updates coming months, starting with 6 voided long cross sterlings. The first in the list is the most special of them. It is a HENRICVS COMES sterling, found by my good friend Mark in Friesland. On a field he discovered a scattered small hoard and 2 coins appeared to be this type of imitations and he has donated one to me. I'm very happy with such a gift! Interesting to see that again 2 HENRICVS COMES sterlings were found closer to Kuinre than the Westfalen area. It is still not sure where they are minted. Hopefully we can sort it out one day with new finds! The other 5 coins are "just" imitations and contemporary forgeries, but still very interesting to see. The best numismatic wishes for 2018, in good health!
- #0264, a rare HENRICVS COMES sterling!
- #0265, a nice class 5 voided long cross imitation
- #0266, a cut half forged voided long cross sterling
- #0267, another class 5 voided long cross imitation
- #0268, and again a class 5 voided long cross imitation
- #0269, a forged voided long cross sterling
Addition of 19 coins
May 20th, 2017Today 19 coins, some very rare or unique, were added to the website. One of the coins bears the name of Julius Caesar! Go check it out:
- #0245, a rare variety of a John of Avesnes sterling. Haven't seen this before!
- #0246, an enigmatic coin: obverse John of Avesnes, reverse Namur. Rare!
- #0247, a nice variety of a Valeran of Ligny sterling
- #0248, an unlisted variety of a Thomas of Bourlémont sterling
- #0249, a William of Namur cut halfpenny
- #0250, a sterling issued by John the Blind
- #0251, a sterling issued by Robert of Béthune with a die error
- #0252, a scarce sterling issued by Robert of Béthune
- #0253, a Gaucher of Châtillon sterling, with English legends
- #0254, unrecorded! This sterling by John of Louvain isn't mentioned in any books!
- #0255, a rare pollard by Guy of Dampierre
- #0256, a very rare Maastricht minted variety, by John III of Brabant
- #0257, unique and very rare! A halfpenny issued by Marie of Artois
- #0258, an English legend imitation with an interesting reverse legend
- #0259, a very rare crockard by Adolf VIII of Berg, Wipperfürt mint
- #0260, an Edwardian contemporary forgery
- #0261, again a contemporary forgery in the style of an Edwardian penny
- #0262, the third contemporary Edwardian forgery in this update
- #0263, a very rare "Julius Caesar" sterling issued by John II of Sancerre
Crockards & Pollards
February 4th, 2017Today I added 6 crockards and pollards:
- #0239, a sterling issued by John I of Brabant
- #0240, an interesting mule of a Mayhew 11/12 pollard by Guy of Dampierre
- #0241, an rare variety of a John I of Brabant crockard, unlisted!
- #0242, a rare Arnold V of Looz pollard with roses in a quarter
- #0243, an unlisted and new type of a John II of Brabant crockard!
- #0244, a crockard by John of Louvain
Short cross additions
May 18th, 2016As promised this time an update with 11 short cross sterlings. They are much rarer than voided long crosses and was very pleased to acquire a couple last months, some with interesting provenance! Before I go further, I should mention that the important numismatic Jeffrey North died last month at the age of 96. We all know him for his 2 books 'English Hammered Coinage' and his fantastic article J. J. North, "Some imitations and forgeries of the English and Irish Long Cross pence of Henry III", British Numismatic Journal 65 (1995), 83-119, 4 pls.
To get a better overview at the short cross coins, I gave every ruler its own page like I've done with the voided long cross and long cross sterlings. I hope you like them all as much as I do, some very interesting pieces are listed:
- #0228, a short cross imitation minted in Iserlohn by Adolf I
- #0229, a very rare and interesting (but broken) coin by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
- #0230, this one has some rosettes showing the Lippe mint (a Bernhard III issue)
- #0231, a short cross forgery
- #0232, again a forged short cross penny
- #0233, an anonymous continental imitation
- #0234, an anonymous continental imitation
- #0235, a forged short cross penny
- #0236, a short cross forgery
- #0237, a cut half short cross contemporary forgery
- #0238, an extremely rare quarter (cut) by Hermann II or Bernhard III of Lippe
Voided long cross additions
February 10th, 2016This update contains 15 voided long cross sterlings (my reference no.'s 0213-0227). The most (9) are class 5 imitations but I also added 4 imitations of class 3. The last 2 are contemporary forgeries. Some coins have an interesting provenance. For example, a couple of coins I added come from the Ex J. Sazama collection and some from J.J. North and are also mentioned in his great article and reference work: J. J. North, "Some imitations and forgeries of the English and Irish Long Cross pence of Henry III", British Numismatic Journal 65 (1995), 83-119, 4 pls. I try to add the provenance to the other coins on the site, were available of course. The next update will be a short cross edition. Stay tuned!
12 Sterlings added
January 21st, 2016Let's start 2016 with an addition of 12 coins:
- #0201, an unknown variety of a sterling issued by Guy of Dampierre
- #0202, a very rare Pollard type sterling by John of Avesnes
- #0203, an imitation with English legends
- #0204, a cut half Irish/Scottish sterling
- #0205, a forged short cross sterling, the first on the website!
- #0206, a forged voided long cross sterling
- #0207, a forged long cross sterling
- #0208, another forged voided long cross sterling
- #0209, a forged long cross sterling
- #0210, a class 5 voided long cross imitation
- #0211, a forged voided long cross sterling
- #0212, an Edwardian imitation with English legends
Sterling #200!
September 24th, 2015Today I added sterling #200 to my website. It is an amazing and extremely rare short cross imitation of Gottschalk II of Pyrmont. It's pierced but of great quality. Please have a look here!. I've also done some minor updates and added another example from a private collection of a Mayhew 382 coin and als added a picture of a rare and unrecorded Valéran of Ligny sterling, also in private hands. See comments under catalogue #0090.
9 Sterlings added
August 5th, 2015A long cross by Henry I of Sternberg, a very rare short cross by Bernhard III of Lippe and a spectacular enigmatic imitation added + a few others. Also devided the "Voided Long Cross Sterlings" section into "Continental imitations of certain rulers" and "Anonymous imitations with English legends" otherwise the list with coins went too long. Now you can see them by ruler and by imitated class. Here is the complete list with additions:
- #0191, a crockard by John of Louvain, a rare piece
- #0192, a very rare short cross imitation by Bernhard III of Lippe!
- #0193, a gift of Peter H (THANKS!) of a sterling issued by John the Blind
- #0194, an enigmatic crockard with a Guy of Dampierre obverse and a Mons reverse!
- #0195, a John II of Avesnes sterling
- #0196, a sterling issued by John I of Brabant
- #0197, an imitation with English legends
- #0198, a very rare imitation by Henry I of Sternberg!!
- #0199, a class 3 voided long cross imitation
11 Sterlings added
January 14th, 2015We start 2015 with a nice update, 10 Edwardian and 1 Henry sterling. Here is the list:
- #0180, an interesting Henry III imitation, not found in North
- #0181, a sterling issued by John the Blind, Damvillers mint
- #0182, a 2nd Mayhew 21 copy with more details of Guy of Dampierre minted in Damme
- #0183, a 2nd variant of Mayhew 19var copy of Guy of Dampierre also minted in Damme
- #0184, a very rare Gaucher of Châtillon sterling, Florennes mint
- #0185, a sterling issued by John the Blind, Luxembourg mint
- #0186, a new variety of a John the Blind sterling, Luxembourg mint
- #0187, a sterling by Thomas of Bourlémont
- #0188, a nice Pollard, Arnold of Looz
- #0189, a very rare coin by Hugh of Chalon, Fosses mint
- #0190, an unrecorded variety of a John II of Avesnes sterling
26 Sterlings added
July 11th, 2014Big update! I added 26 sterlings to the site. Here is the list:
- #0153, a very rare (German?) imitation with English legends
- #0154, the famous halfpenny by John the Blind, Marche-en-Famenne mint
- #0155, a rare John II of Brabant sterling minted in Dalhem castle
- #0156, a pollard type sterling of Guy of Dampierre minted in Douai
- #0157, a forged long cross sterling
- #0158, a very rare sterling by Thomas of Bourlémont
- #0159, a nice William "The Rich" sterling
- #0160, a rare variety of a Gaucher of Châtillon sterling
- #0161, a rare type of a Gaucher of Châtillon sterling
- #0162, an extremely rare sterling by John of Avesnes
- #0163, a fantastic imitation of a voided long cross penny by Bernhard III
- #0164, a rare variety of a John II of Avesnes sterling
- #0165, a Gaucher of Châtillon sterling
- #0166, another Gaucher of Châtillon sterling
- #0167, and one more of Gaucher
- #0168, a Gaucher of Châtillon sterling
- #0169, a new Gaucher of Châtillon sterling I didn't have yet
- #0170, a second example of the rare Thuin sterling by Hugh of Chalon
- #0171, a very interesting forgery with English obverse and a continental reverse!
- #0172, finally I found a new piece to add of Valéran of Ligny
- #0173, a forged voided long cross sterling
- #0174, a forged long cross sterling of the York mint
- #0175, a very nice long cross forgery
- #0176, a John II of Avesnes sterling
- #0177, a copper long cross forgery
- #0178, an imitation with English legends
Coins added
May 30th, 2014It has been a while, but finally some new additions. Many to follow soon! Curious? Here they are:
- #0149, a nice forged voided long cross sterling
- #0150, an unrecorded variety of a Louis of Bavaria sterling
- #0151, a rare pollard type sterling of Guy of Dampierre
- #0152, a rare variety of a John II of Avesnes sterling
Thanks to Mr. Heinrich Ihl, this half sterling (#0085) can be attributed to Bernhard III and it is minted in the city Lemgo.
Coin added
July 17th, 2013Added a beautiful forged voided long cross sterling to the website. You can find it here, on top of the page with cat.# 0148.
New website launched
July 8th, 2013July 2013 sees the birth of my website. It shows a large collection of continental sterling imitations as well as contemporary forgeries. All coins are in my collection. Hope this site will be used as a refence for detectorists and collectors. New additions will be anounced in the update section.
Sterling imitations dot com
June 19th, 2012Registered the domain sterlingimitations.com. Now it's time to do some programming, photograph all the coins and make descriptions.