THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

CONTINENT OF EUROPE
nounced the pretensions of the emperor or king of
the Romans in this respect at an early date, and
Savoy, the Holy See, Florence, and Milan, the two
Sicilies, and other powers followed a similar course.
The admission of the claim had its real or sup-
posed advantages ; it was an acknowledgment of vas-
salage, but it was a plea for protection on the part
of the minor governments from their more power-
ful neighbours. This point is treated more at large
in our other work, and we may now proceed to furnish
an outline of the numismatic history of the European
Continent, with the premonitory notice that a great
deal of further information may be found in that
volume.
Starting with Westphalia, we meet with many
important coin-centres, such as Cologne, Munster,
Paderborn, Salm, Bronkhorst, and Dortmund, as well
as the scarce and ephemeral currency of Walmoden-
Gimborn ; and in conclusion there is, though extending
over a short period (1806-13), the somewhat prolific
coinage, in all metals, of Jerome Napoleon, king
of Westphalia, who had previously, as Grand-Duke
of Berg, issued various pieces with his portrait and
titles.
In the Rhenish Provinces there are the Duchies
of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg (subsequently united
to Saxony), the two branches of the house of Hohen-
zollern, and the very important town of Aix-la-
Chapelle or Aachen, the residence and burial-place of
Charlemagne. The Counts and Dukes of Nassau, the
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