Among the first batch of crusties that I purchased this was the first that I felt was clean enough to put in a 2x2 and learn about. The iPhone created an odd hue around the cleaned in HDR mode, but here it is. The coin specs are for a full example unless otherwise stated. Silver (debased) Schilling - Solidus of Christina Alexandra Queen of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Duchess of Finland and ruler of Ingria, Livonia and Karelia Minted in Riga 1633-1654 Largest diameter - 16mm Weight - .4g (usually .5-.6g) Obverse - Monogram of Christina under crown, Vasa royal crown within monogram, CHRISTINA D G R S Reverse - Arms in cartouche, SOLIDUS LIVONIAE Christina Alexandra a.k.a. "The Girl King" (Dec 18, 1626-Apr 19, 1689) was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolf and his wife Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. Her father gave orders that she be raised as a prince and she took her oath as King and not as Queen. She succeeded her father, at the young age of 6, as Queen of Sweden after his death at the Battle of Lützen. At the age of 22 she was instrumental in bringing the 30 year war (1618-1648), which involved most of the European realm at that time, to an end. It resulted in the rise of the Swedish empire, the decline of feudalism in continental Europe and furthered the decentralization of the Holy Roman Empire. Later, in 1654, she announced her abdication in favor of her cousin Charles X Gustav, but this did not mark the end of her influence across Europe. Christina Alexandra acted as mediator in the Franco-Spanish war, was accepted into the Roman Catholic Church and settled into Rome. While there she had taken on a stigma associated with a lavish lifestyle and had been accused of a lesbian, prostitute and hermaphrodite. Scandal after scandal had repeatedly driven her out of Rome until things died down, the most known being her affair with a well-connected Cardinal. After some time she had settled down and began to turn her political aspirations towards the French, with whom she plotted against the Spanish at Naples, and hoped to be installed as Queen. After this didn't come to fruition she returned to Rome and lived the rest of her days quietly without discreditable behavior. After her death, by order of Pope Innocent XI, she was buried in the walls of St Peter's Basilica. She was one of only three women to ever receive this honor, Maria Klementyna Sobieska of Poland and Countess Mathilda of Tuscany being the other two.
Thanks @Mat. I'm sure all of the crusties I have are common, but a great learning tool for me since I'm new to the ancients, or in this case, medievals.
@Victor_Clark and @Mat I do stand corrected... this would have been in the Early Modern era of Europe. Wikipedia has it marked from 1453 with the fall of Constantinople until the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Unfortunately for me (until somewhat recently) the only history I really focused on in the past was North America from colonial times to present and only spreading from that for major wars the US was involved in. I guess my interest in the Crusades and the medieval times has opened up a whole world (literally) of learning that I'm excited to delve into. This is probably the most modern coin I have in this area of my collection and I can't wait to start researching my Cyprus mint coin and a couple sandies I've picked up recently. Wish me and my hands at cleaning good luck!
Good luck, i've learned a lot more too since focusing on medieval and ancients. What makes the hobby fun!
that's pretty cool, i didn't know about this chick. did you catch the swedish coins pdf bob posted in alde thread? https://www.cointalk.com/threads/lo...rence-for-15th-and-16th-century-coins.299420/ i don't have any swedish coins that are quite that old, but here is a jeton from the franco-spanish war you mentioned. Jeton of Philip IV, 1657 O: Philip IV, VALENCIANAM LIBERASTI CONDATUMQUE / RECUPERASTI; R:Valenciennes , MICARULOSO DEO / HOSTEM FUGASTI. Struck in Antwerp Celebrating the Spanish victory at Valenciennes in the Franco-Spanish War. 32 mm, 5.8 g. i personally divide my collection between medieval and modern at about 1500. my jeton seem pretty "early modern" to me, i believe it was milled like a modern coin. i think OP coin looks more like a medieval coin, even though they were minted about the same time. it seems more similar to the hammered coins that had been produced for hundreds of years before it.
Nice! I'm going to have that war on the list for my next area of research. I just need to get through about 8-10 more crusties/sandies before I pile any more work on myself. And thank you for referencing Bobs post- I saw that thread but before the list was posted. Thanks again! From what I found about this coin itself it was made of an alloy very low in silver, and then had silver crudely added to its surface to dress it up a bit (I want to say clad, but I cannot find the term that was used in my research about the process they used to resurface the coin with silver). These were roller pressed and it's more common to find examples that have the obverse or reverse grossly misaligned because of that style of minting. I guess to the Swedes it was more about function than form in regards to this series of coins.
