Why are the Van Arsdell pages not simply in order by Celtic Coin Index number?
Because the Celtic Coin Index number is an arbitrary number, assigned according to the year and order in which coins were catalogued, we did not feel that it was the most important factor in organizing the coin records. Considering that many tribes have numerous records without Van Arsdell numbers, we felt that a secondary sort by Allen number would group similar coins together within those pages. The sort order is actually first by Van Arsdell number, second by Allen number, and finally, by Celtic Coin Index number. This means that within a tribe, each category, either “No Van Arsdell Number” or specific Van Arsdell numbers, begins with those coins which have not been assigned Allen references. Within those first records, the coins are in CCI number order. When and if coins have been assigned Allen references, the CCI order begins again. While this may appear confusing at first, it groups coins together by meaningful similarities, rather than by the random order of CCI no. If you know
