W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

PREFACE
IT is
hoped that the following pages may
be found to have
supplied an apparent deficiency in English numismatic
literature by furnishing an introduction to the more exact
and complete knowledge of the continental series of European
coins, and to an approximate
estimate of what a collection
of such a nature embraces and represents.
That a virtually
first
attempt of this kind on a comprehensive scale will prove
more or less imperfect the writer foresees ; yet if it is sensibly
in advance of all former essays in the same .direction, it
cannot fail to be of some appreciable service.
It
must be interesting alike to the English and American
student to note how very frequent are the points of affinity
and contact between the coins of Great Britain and those
here described ;
and this is
particularly
the case with the
early productions of France, Spain, and the Low Countries.
The illustrations which accompany the volume have
been exclusively selected from examples in the possession
of the writer. In the choice made, the aim has been to
exhibit as far as possible typical specimens and coins recommended
by their
historical or personal associations.