The Early Dated Coins of Europe 1234-1500

When the First Edition of The Early Dated Coins of Europe, 1234-1500 made its debut in 2007, it presented for the first time a comprehensive listing, by date, region, state, ruler and mint, of all the known types of gold, silver and copper coins struck in medieval Europe with an Anno Domini date of 1500 or earlier. Since then, it has become the worldwide reference for early dated coinage.

These "early dated coins" form one of the first links between medieval and modern coinage. Anno Domini dating of coins using Latin script did not begin until the mid-13th century, and did not become prevalent in Europe until three centuries later. Separating those few coins with dates from the many struck without them at a thousand mints and by hundreds of different coin-issuing authorities was a daunting task that took the author more than fifteen years to accomplish.

The First Edition of this book rendered obsolete the only volume remotely comparable, the long out-of-print work by Albert Frey in 1915. Today, when an early dated coin is sold, whether in Europe or America, it is accompanied by a Levinson reference number. This revised and updated Second Edition is in full color throughout, with improved illustrations, as well as more than 200 new illustrations. More than 125 new types and subtypes have been added, and there are over 500 updates to catalog descriptions.

The book focuses on the eight distinct regions in which coins were issued:
• Germany
• Southern Netherlands
• Northern Netherlands
• Habsburg lands
• Switzerland
• Scandinavia
• Italy
• France
and organizes the known pre-1501 Anno Domini dated coins chronologically within each region.  

For the first time, there is for each of the nearly 1200 coins listed (twice as many as in the Frey work), the full legends, descriptions, ruler names, references, weights and rarity.  There are nearly 1,000 photographs and line drawings, an extraordinary undertaking given the extreme rarity of the majority of the coins.

• The first is a lengthy history of early dated coinage, including discussions of the types, metallurgy, classifications, etc.
• The second part is the catalogue of coinage, divided into the eight regions.
• The third part is a listing, again by region, of all the states issuing early dated coinage, with a history of each state’s coinage and a cross-reference to all the coins listed in the catalogue.
• The fourth part contains eight appendices with alphabetical listings, translations of legends, a photographic glossary of coin types, a listing of early dated coinage using Islamic script, and other useful information.

Collecting these difficult to acquire coins has been a passion for Robert A. Levinson, a Los Angeles attorney and an ardent collector, for nearly three decades, and sharing his enthusiasm for them led him to spend nearly fifteen years compiling the First Edition of this book. It was accomplished in no small thanks to the cooperation of many of the world's foremost numismatists, coin dealers and museums in more than half a dozen countries, who have also enthusiastically supported him for this new edition.

The glossaries and appendices are invaluable not only to collectors of "early dated coins," but also to anyone needing a quick reference to medieval coin-issuing cities, states and mints, identifying their basic designs, or reading their sometimes complicated legends. Every numismatist will find the annotated bibliography a vital resource.

The Early Dated Coins of Europe, 1234-1500 will be a standard reference for years to come.