Coins of the First Crusade

After the thumbnails, this page lists the coin types from the First Crusade in two tables--one table for types from Antioch and the other for types from Edessa. 
The main page merges the coins and the history.  

First Crusade types from Antioch
(Click the thumbnail for a larger image and ID
and then click that larger image for the history)

	CSS 2 is unique and not really crusader
CCS 1, Bohemond I	CCS 2, not crusader	CCS3, Tancred	CCS 4 Tancred	CCS 5 Tancred
CCS 6, Tancred	CCS 7, Roger	CCS 8, Roger	CCS 9, Roger	CCS 10, Bohemond II

 First Crusade types from Edessa
(Click the thumbnail for a larger image and ID
and then click that larger image for the history)

Similar to Type 1b but B  Δ / H  N and no wedges in the cross		Facing bust of the Virgin, orans X B               B K  in cross	8-point star with legend around   B Λ                Δ N  in cross
CCS 1a, Baldwin I	CCS 1b, Baldwin II?	CCS 2, Baldwin II	CCS 3, Baldwin II	CCS 4, Richard
CCS 5, Richard	CCS 6, Richard	CCS 7, Baldwin II	CCS 8, Baldwin II	CCS 9, Baldwin II
			4-line legend  Short cross in circle with legend around	4-line legend  Cross IX  XC                NI  KA
CCS 10, Baldwin II	CCS 11, Baldwin II	CCS 12, Baldwin II	CCS 15, Baldwin II	CCS16, Baldwin II

 
Antioch. (Skip down to types of Edessa.) Coins from Antioch are much more common than coins from Edessa.
 

Coins of the First Crusade. Antioch

ID number and size in mm           Image  (image sizes are proportional)    (Click on the image to go to the main page discussion of it.)           Description	Ruler Dates	References CCS pages 198-201 Metcalf pages 25-28 and plates 3-6.
CCS Antioch 1. c. 25 mm. Bust of St. Peter facing Cross with B  H                    M  T  in the angles	Bohemond I 1098-1101, 1103-1104	CCS 1 Metcalf Type 1, coins 47-48 Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 2. Bust of St. Peter facing/ 4-line legend  (Unique, and possibly not crusader)	Bohemond I? (Maybe not)	CCS 2 Metcalf Type 2. "unique. Possibly, however, Italian" Porteous 15.
CCS Antioch 3. c. 23 mm.  Bust of St. Peter facing, long cross over his left shoulder 4-line legend: +KEBOI/θHTOΔY/ΛOCΩVT/ANHPI	Tancred 1101-1103, 1104-1112	CCS 3, the first type (of four) for Tancred. (3a is normal size, 3b is for a few that are smaller, 17 mm or less) Metcalf Type 3, coins 49-62 (61-62 are the smaller size) Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 4. c. 20 mm. Bust of Tancred facing Large square cross with IC  XC                                         NI  KA  in the angles.	Tancred 1101-1103, 1104-1112	CCS 4, the second type (of four) for Tancred. (4a is normal size, 4b is a bit smaller, 18 mm or less) Metcalf Type 4, coins 63-70. (There is no obvious size distinction.) Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 5. c. 21 mm.  Bust of Christ facing Large square cross with TA  NK                                            P     H  (for "Tancred") in the angles	Tancred 1101-1103, 1104-1112	CCS 5, the third type (of four) for Tancred. Metcalf Type 6, coins 81-83 (84-85 are the same type, but not illustrated) Note:  CCS and Metcalf reverse the orders of their types 5 and 6.  Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 6. c. 22 mm.  St. Peter standing, r. hand blessing, left holding long cross Large square cross with D    S                                          F    T   in the angles.	Tancred 1101-1103, 1104-1112	CCS 6, the fourth type (of four) for Tancred. Metcalf Type 5, coins 71-80 Note:  CCS and Metcalf reverse the orders of their types 5 and 6.  CCS says 6 is "often found overstruck on Type 5". Metcalf says [p. 27] the reverse--that Type 5 is overstruck on Type 6. (It can be very hard to tell which is the overtype. See here for an example.) Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 7. c. 21 mm. Christ standing facing, raising right hand in benediction (The second example is different.) Cross with DNE  SAL    (NE ligate)                     IT    RO   in angles	Roger of Salerno 1112-1119	CCS 7, the first type (of three) for Roger. Metcalf Type 7, coins 86-88 Images courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 8. c. 23 mm - 21 mm.  Virgin standing orans 5-line legend:   KЄBOH/ΘЄITω/CωΔOVΛ/ωP [The rho begins the name of Roger]OTSЄ/PI [We use "G" where the coin has "TS". Different legend breaks are common.]	Roger of Salerno 1112-1119	CCS 8, the second type (of three) for Roger. Metcalf Type 8, coins 89-94 They agree it is overstruck on Type 7 Images courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 9. c. 20 mm.  Horseman (St. George) riding right spearing small serpent (dragon). Three line legend beginning POT3ЄP, for Roger.	Roger of Salerno 1112-1119	CCS 9 "Overstruck on the previous two types of Roger." The third type (of three) for Roger. Metcalf Type 9, coins 95-101. Overstruck on CCS 8. Note: The flan is usually slightly too small for the dies.  Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Antioch 10. c. 20 mm. Bust of St. Peter, holding long cross over his left shoulder Cross, with BA IM  ɣN  ΔOC   in the angles	Bohemond II, 1126-1130	CCS 10, The only type for Bohemond II (10a supposedly has a particular obverse legend and 10b is a variety of it, but most are illegible) Metcalf Type 10, coins 102-105 (obverses all illegible) Note: The flan is usually slightly too small for the dies and the strike is weak. Raking light was used to show the legend on the second exmaple.  Images courtesy of PC1

Edessa. See the notes below for comments on how CCS compares with Schindel, the most recent authoritative reference. 
   Crusader coins of Edessa are much less common than coins of Antioch. Many types of Edessa are extremely rare--known from only a few examples, most with terrible overstrikes--which makes it hard to be certain what the design was supposed to be. The line-drawings below (from Schlumberger in 1878) are of particular coins with bad overstrikes; they show what the coins are like. Therefore, some of the descriptions and legends in CCS and below may be incomplete or incorrect. Also, there may exist types yet to be identifed as crusader. Some auctions in 2023 and 2024 offered crude coins with designs similar to these which might be crusader, but they might be Byzantine coins or imitations of Byzantine coins. 
 

Coins of the First Crusade. Edessa

ID number           Image           Description	Ruler Dates	References Schindel (NZ, 2023) CCS pages 198-201 Metcalf pages 31-39 and plate 7. Porteous. Schlumberger.
CCS Edessa 1a. c. 26 mm. [Looks much like CCS 1b below, but with some different lettering  and no wedges in the angles.] Bust of Christ facing Cross on steps with B   Δ H  N   in angles without wedges.	Schindel Baldwin I CCS Baldwin I 1098-1100	Schindel 1a (1102). Schindel thinks that the different lettering in the cross on CCS 1a and 1b (Schindel 1b and 1c) is intentional and indicates a different Baldwin. CCS did not note the different lettering, only the different wedges, and did not treat it as important. CCS Edessa 1 Porteous Baldwin Class 1, plate 14.2 and 14.5. Metcalf p.33 line drawing only from Sch, no coin photographed. Sch I.5. (This drawing, also used in CCS.)
CCS Edessa 1b, c.  c. 26 mm. Bust of Christ facing Cross on steps with B  Λ  Δ  N  in angles with wedges	Schindel: Baldwin II CCS: Baldwin I 1098-1100	Schindel 1c (1102) The lettering in the angles of the cross is different from Schindel 1a and 1b. S. thinks this refers to a different Baldwin, in this case, Baldwin II. CCS Edessa 1 Porteous Baldwin Class 1, plate 14.2 and 14.5. Metcalf p.33 line drawing only from Sch, no coin photographed. Sch I.5. (This drawing, also used in CCS.) Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Edessa 2. c. 24 mm. Facing bust of the Virgin with halo, orans (i.e. with hands raised) X B B K  in angles of the cross	Baldwin II 1100-1104	Schindel 2 (1103) He calls it the "Theotokos" type (because of Mary). CCS Edessa 2 Porteous Baldwin Class 2, plate 14.11. Metcalf coins 107-108 Sch --
CCS Edessa 3. c. 25 mm. Star (with 8 points) surrounded by inscription (in Armenian?)  Cross with balls at ends, B Λ Δ N in angles	Richard of Salerno 1104-1108	Schindel 3 (1104) CCS Edessa 3 Porteous "unidentified type overstruck on Baldwin Class 1," Plate 14.10. Metcalf -- Sch --
CCS Edessa 4. c. 25 mm Bust of Christ facing (resembles CCS Antioch 5) /inscription in four lines (resembles CCS Antioch 3, but with "PIKAP" for Richard)	Richard of Salerno 1104-1108	Schindel 4 (1105) CCS Edessa 4 Porteous Richard Class 1 Sch II.2 (This drawing, also used in CCS.)
CCS Edessa 5. c. 26 mm.  Legend KE BOH  PIKAP in 3 lines  ("PIKAP" for "Richard") Square cross with balls at the ends and wedges in the angles (as on Edessa 8 below)	Richard of Salerno 1104-1108	Schindel 5 (1106) CCS Edessa 5 Porteous Richard Class 2, plate 15.15-19 (He has the cross side as the obverse.) Metcalf -- Sch II.1 and II.3 (This drawing is Sch II.1.  CCS uses Sch II.1/II.3.)  Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Edessa 6. c. 25 mm. Bust of Christ facing  (as type 4) Short cross in small circle, legend around KE BOH  PIKAP	Richard of Salerno 1104-1108	Schindel 6 (AD 1107) CCS Edessa 6 Porteous Richard Class 3, plate 15.21,23,25. Metcalf, p. 33, line-drawing from Sch I.18. Sch I.18, which is badly overstruck on Baldwin Class 1.
CCS Edessa 7, c. 27-25 mm. (The coin is 25.0 mm.) Count standing left with sword and shield Patriarchal cross on 2 steps, single pellets in upper angles, 3 pellets in lower angles. (Thes line-drawing does not make the upper bar of the patriarchal cross clear, but the photograph does.)	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 8 (AD 1109) CCS Edessa 7 Porteous Baldwin class 3, plate 15.29-38. "armed man." Metcalf p. 33, drawing from Sch.  Sch I.1(This drawing, also used in CCS and Metcalf.) Image courtesy of PC1.
CCS Edessa 8, c. 26 mm. 3-line legend: BAΛΔ/OVINO/KOMH (For "Baldwin, count") Square cross with balls at the ends and wedges in the angles (as on Edessa 5 above)	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 9 (1110) CCS Edessa 8 Porteous Baldwin Class 4 (overstruck on Baldwin Type 3).  Metcalf coins 107-108 Sch I.3 (This drawing, also used in CCS and Metcalf.)
CCS Edessa 9. c. 25 mm. Count standing left, holding short cross and sword, legend around (from 1:00) BAΓΔOVNOC ΔO-YΛO CATV (some letters ligate) ("Baldwin, servant of the cross") Floral cross	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 10a (1111) CCS Edessa 9a Porteous -- Metcalf 109-111 Sch I.7 Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Edessa 10.  c. 21 mm. Resembles #9, but with a different obverse legend, and smaller. Count standing left holding short cross and sword (Pose like #9). Letters BAΓΔoIN scattered across the field. Floral cross	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 10b (1112) CCS Edessa 10 Metcalf 112 Porteous -- ? Sch I.9 (This drawing, also used in CCS and Metcalf, p. 35.) Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Edessa 11. c. 21 mm. Count standing with long cross and shield Very small cross, B  Δ  left and right, H  N above and below, with the letter at 12:00 much like an H and not a Δ (which it is supposed to be, according to reference works)	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 12 CCS Edessa 11 Metcalf coins 113-114 Image courtesy of PC1
CCS Edessa 12. c. 22 mm. Bust of Christ facing (CCS has this as the reverse) Count standing with sword in right and long cross in left, B Δ N in field	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 13 (1116) "Usually overstruck on [Schindel] Type 12" (which is CCS Type 11) [p. 112] CCS Edessa 12 Metcalf coins 115-117 Image courtesy of PC1 [The long cross is not clear.]
CCS Edessa 13.  c. 22 mm.  [Schindel says this may not exist.] Very similar to 12, but the reverse has short cross in right and sword in left  and there are no letters in the field.	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 13. Schindel says it really has a cross in his left hand, so it is CCS Edessa 12, and this variant does not exist. CCS Edessa 13 Porteous HOC 11
CCS Edessa 14. c. 25 mm. [Schindel does not give this its own number because it is a minor spelling variant of CSS 2.] Bust of Virgin facing, orans Square cross with uncertain letters in angles-- K in the second and X in the fourth.	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 2 (i.e. Schindel thinks CCS Edessa 14 is CCS Edessa 2.) CCS Edessa 14 Porteous XVI.39
CCS Edessa 15.  Design c. 17 mm, but on irregular-shaped larger flans. These are usually overstruck on earlier Islamic types, not earlier crusader types.  4-line legend for "Baldwin, Count" Short cross pattee in circle with legend around	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	Schindel 14 CCS Edessa 15 Pesant, NC (1982) 1 and 3
CCS Edessa 16. c. 19 mm. (Overstruck on Seljuq billon dirhams) 4-line legend for "Baldwin, Despot" Square cross with IX  XC  NI  KA in the angles	Baldwin II, second reign 1108-1118	CCS Edessa 16 Metcalf and Willis, page 136, number 50, plate 20.50.

Notes:  The main academic study of coins of Edessa is by Nikolaus Schindel in Numismatische Zeitschrift (2023, pages 65-175. 111 pages with over 270 coins photographed!). It has superseded all previous work.

In 2023 and 2024 several dealers have offered coins attributed to "Joscelin I" (who followed Baldwin II's second reign), but none of them have Joscelin's name on them and Schindel attributes them as "not belonging to Edessa." He accepts the unique coin in the Slocum collection with legend naming "Joscelin son of Joscelin" as genuine (Schindel type 15), but thinks no coins of Joscelin I have yet been found.  

Schindel writes that CCS Edessa 13 does not exist (because is it really a poorly struck CCS Edessa 12) and 14 is really CCS Edessa 2 with spelling errors. Also, he inserts in with Baldwin II ("uncertain") a Schindel type 7 (citing Porteous 1975, p. 179, no. 20, plate 15, photo 20, who did not put it into one of his classes). Schindel inserts a "Type 11" with an illegible 4-line legend, maybe in Armenian or Georgian or very corrupt Greek, opposite a square cross. It is not in other references and he comments (p. 112) "Evidence of the very rare Type 11 is still missing," but he does have a photo of one.   

Until 2023 the main study of crusader coins of Edessa was by Porteous (NC, 1975 [long ago!]), who had four classes for Baldwin and three for Richard (and some coins he did not classify). Metcalf published the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and thoroughly discussed all the types of Antioch and illustrated them--most with multiple examples--on three plates. However, his treatment of coins of Edessa is much different. Coins of Antioch are much more common in the market than coins of Edessa, and the Ashmolean collection also has that imbalance. Published by Metcalf in 1995, it has relatively few coins and coin types from Edessa. He apparently expects the reader to use Porteous for a list of types ("classes") and their descriptions. He does have one page of 8 line-drawings of coins of Edessa from Schumberger, but Metcalf's plate of photographs has only five different types with none of Baldwin I or Richard. So, Metcalf is not a good source for crusader coins of Edessa. 
 

Links: Go to the main page on Crusader coins and their history 
Go back up on this page to the types from Antioch.
Go back up on this page to the types from Edessa. 
  Go to the list of reference works.