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Use with written permission from author only.
None of the coins on this site are offered for sale.
Material on this site is for research/educational purposes only.

About Content

This site is based on an article I wrote for "The Celator" magazine in October 1992 entitled "Turbulent history of the Crusades influenced a variety of early coinage types" under my maiden name.  Being web inclined, I translated it from the magazine format to an html format (in other words, a website). I am a collector of coins and am interested in their history.

Please note: All the printed material on this site is a combination of research from various historical texts and includes my own personal insights and opinions based on this research. I have listed additional materials on the book reviews page to augment what I have researched and written here as the subject is vast. A small web site like this cannot contain it all.  There are many respected historians out there with more complete information. This site is meant as a basic overview only and focuses on the land and people associated with the coins.

All conclusions drawn and opinions stated are mine.  Please be sure to credit my site for the research and these authors for their wonderful reference materials. 

~ M. A. Foster

The Bibliography for the materials on the site is as follows:

Saladin, The politics of the Holy War by Malcolm Cameron Lyons and D.E.P. Jackson, Cambridge  University Press, first published 1982, ISBN 0 521 58562 7 (paperback)

Arab Historians of the Crusades by Francesco Gabrieli, Dorset Press coyright 1957, ISBN 0 88029 452 3

The First Crusade by Steven Runciman, Cambridge University Press, copyright 1951, ISBN 0 521 427053 (paperback)

The Cambridge Indtoduction to Art, The Middle Ages by Annie Shaver-Crandell, Cambridge University Press, copyright 1982,  ISBN 0 521 298709 9 (paperback)

The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop, American Heritage Division of Forbes Inc, copyright 1968, 
ISBN 0 8281 0487 5

The Dream and the Tomb: A History of the Crusades, by Robert Payne, Dorset Press, copyright 1984, 
ISBN 0 88029 528 7

The Crusades, by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira, published by arrangement with BBC Books and Facts on File, Inc, copyright 1995,  ISBN 0 8160 3275 0

A History of the Crusades, Kenneth M. Setton, General Editor, University of Wisconsin Press, copyright 1969, Second Edition, Lib. of Congress Cat. Card 68-9837

         Vol. 1 The First Hundred Years

         Vol. 2 The Later Crusades 1189-1311

         Vol. 3 The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries

         Vol. 4 Civilization and Institutions

         Vol. 5 Influence and Consequences, with Genealogies and Bibliography

         Vol. 6 An Atlas and Gazeteer of the Crusades

Please note: this collection is now on line, complete, and available from the University of Wisconson Library.  You can download sections, do searches, or just read through the material and view the plates.  The link above takes you to the page that will allow you to search or read the volumes.

For the Coinage, the following are the books which are standard reference for these types of coins.  All contain historical references, based on the coinage, and some of this is tucked away in the history I have on the site to add special insight to the basic history.

Marsden's Numismata Orientalia Illustrata by Steve Album, Attic Books, Ltd, copyright 1977, 
ISBN 0 915018 16 0

Turkoman Figural Bronze Coins and Their Iconography by William F. Spengler and Wayne G. Sayles, Clio's Cabinet

         Vol. 1  The Artuqids 1992, IBSN 1 879080 02 8

         Vol. 11 The Zengids 1996, IBSN 1 879080 04 4

The Coinage of the Crusades and the Latin East in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England by D. M. Metcalf, Keeper of the Heberden Coin Room, University of Oxford, copyright 1995, ISBN 1 85444 062 4

Coins of the Crusader States by Alex G Malloy, Irene Fraley Preston Arthur J Seltman, edited by Allen G. Berman, Attic Books, Ltd copyright 1994, ISBN 0 915018 50 0

Numismatuque De L'Orient Latin, G. Schlumberger, Akademische Druck - U. Verlagsanstalt Graz-Austria copyright 1954, Written in French and published in Austria.  Part 1 The History - Part 2 The Illustrations

Le Monete Siciliane by Roldolfo Spahr.  This work is in several volumes and is in Italian.  The references here are made to correspond to the book. There are changes and further research on your part is suggested.