I've had these coins for a while and have been unable to identify them. The first one on the left may be a cob coin from the 1600s, the second from 1755 is one of them Spanish milled coins but I do not know where it was minted as I do not know what the letters stand for. What country should I put on the holder for where it is from? The third is a Chinese cash coin from I'm guessing the late 1700s-early 1800s but I can't be sure from my books, the fourth has M. Theres on it and might say 1785 but didnt she die in 1780? The last coin is from Hungary and features who I believe to be Jesus and Mary and may be some kind of token on it and has the date of what I believe to be the 1760s. Please help me if you can as I've had the Spanish coin for four years and haven't been able to properly identify it. Oh and to give you a perspective of size the cash coin is just a tiny bit smaller than a quarter. http://www.geocities.com/cracklingcandles/Obverse.jpg http://www.geocities.com/cracklingcandles/Reverse.jpg
Cash coin: China reign of Chi'en Lung (1736-95) Board of revenue mint Virtually the most common 1700s coin by far.
Second last is a copper pfennig from Austria dated 1765. The last one is a copper denar from Hungary dated 1769.
The coin on the far left, the copper one, appears to be an 8 maravedis struck in Spain 1602 - 1620. The Maria Theresa coin I think is a kreuzer struck in billon in the 1740's. But I am not sure, the coin is too far gone for me to identify it for sure. The coin the far right I believe is a Hungarian denar struck in copper in 1763, '65 and '66. Sorry - that's the best I can do given the condition of the coins.
Ian was posting while I was looking these up. I'd happily take his word on the Austrian coin. But I think he missed the date on the Hungarian - I could be wrong of course.
Thank you so much ccgnum for helping with the cash coin. The pillar coin is definately from Peru but I wonder what the JD on it stands for. The Austrian coin seems to be another full match as I've looked at very carefully and can see 65 if I tilt it in the light correctly! As for the Hungarian one I don't know what to write on the holder for the date...Are you 101% sure about the date Ian? I'm gonna try and look up the 1st coin and see what I can find on it. Anyways thanks for helping me Ian and GDJMSP as well.
You must have quite a good and detailed book. That explains why the letters vary. Now this may sound a bit elementary but what is an assayer? I checked a dictionary and it has assay and it says test and attempt...
I have great many very good and detailed books An assayer is a person who test the metal content of coins to assure that they are of a certain fineness & weight. They confirm how much pure silver or pure gold is contained in the coins.
They must have been pretty important for them to have had their initials put on the coins. So...how certain are you sir about that Spanish coin of the early 1600s??? I found something on another forum on google with those same dates but it is in Dutch and you have to be a member to see the attached pictures!!
Re thwe Hungarian....I had thought it was KM383 (1767 -1771) as opposed 375.2 (1763-66). I had discounted to 375.1 (1760 -62) because i didn't think the crown obverse matched. I thought that the last number in the date was a 9 when I enhanced the photo. I wouldn't swear to it though, but thought the balance of probabilities were more on it being 383 than 375.2. Either way its used up its `conversation piece' value ;-) Ian
The leftest coin bears a Dutch emblem and its odd shape might be a hit for CEYLON (1596 - 1795/6) under Netherlands rule.
They were important. They acted as the representatives of the King. It was their lives on the line if the coins were found to contain less silver or gold than they were supposed to contain. All nations used assayers and most of them had to place their signature on every coin in one form or another. Fairly certain, I looked it up in Krause. The coin is pretty worn, but what details remain match KM #15.7
Okay...for this Hungarian coin I'm gonna put C. 1769 on the holder since we don't know for sure. As for the older left coin I'm gonna look into what giladzuc says but GDJMSP seems to be pretty certain so I'll probably end up going with what he says. Thanks for all of the help btw people.
Okay sir I'm gonna put the coin from the early 1600s in a holder with your information. I've been trying to figure out what the design is on the back...it looks like a few letters merge together and that there may be some sort of wreath under them...is that a pretty good match to what you see in your book???
What you are calling the back is actually the front or the obverse of the coin. And in the picture you provided it is upside down. What you think is a wreath is a crown. The coin has a crowned shield of Castile ( a castle ) on the obverse and a crowned shiled of Leon ( a lion rampant ) on the reverse.
Omgosh I didn't see it all until you pointed it out and I turned it "right side up"! I was going by the side of the lion and turned it over as such. I wonder why they made the obverse and reverse have different sides like American money. Maybe it depended on how the minter turned the coin over when he hit down the coin with the hammer. Thank you so much for pointing that out.
