Hey Gang, As the title says, I would like to find out what I have here. It looks like it has been converted as jewelry. Interesting toning on it, but apart from it being something about the Holy Roman Empire(medal says Ferdinand II) and it rings like silver, I am clueless. If it helps any, it has been in my family for quite some time and was a gift from a family friend. Many thanks, Henry
Wish I could take credit for translating this Latin, but a catalog beat me to it. vivida pax christi servet nos tempore tristi "May the peace of the living Christ preserve us in these sad times" Why some letters are capitalized in the middle of words: Chronogram is a phrase of which the roman-numeral letters (C,D,I,L,M,V,X) express a date when added together. (e.g. LorD haVe MerCIe Vpon Vs = 50+500+5+1000+100+1+5+5=1666). The order was irrelevant, the sequence IV stood for 1+5=6 and not for 4. On coins, the numerals are indicated in exaggerated capital Roman letters within the legend. Chronograms were particularly popular in the Baroque Age although counting the numerals was tiresomeone and one had to struggle through obscure statements in scholars' Latin. ============== City of Nuremberg. 4 ducats 1631, off-metal strike of the taler. Ø 42 mm Lettered edge with chronogram : VIVIDA PAX CHRISTI SERVET NOS TEMP=ORE TRISTI ("May the peace of the living Christ preserve us in these sad times" during the Thirty Years' War.) Enlarged letters : VIVID XC I I V M I I = MDCVVVIIIIII = 1000+500+100+3x5+6x1 = 1631 Source: http://www.coingallery.de/Varia/_varia_2_E.htm
Yes, thanks. I had searched before and gotten nowhere. Fortunately, you have pointed me in the right direction.http://www.ngccoin.com/poplookup/WorldCoinPrices.aspx?category=100245&worldcoinid=264516 Thanks, again