My wife & I received these after her grandmother passed away. I have many relatives/friends that collect and nobody has any idea what they are. They appear to be silver. They are lightly tarnished and very heavy considering they are very thin, ~1/32" or less. Any clues or ideas are very appreciated. The first set of pics has what appears to be an eagle inside the star, and the other is a lion holding an axe.
These coins maybe from Norway, not sure still looking. The Norway Coat of Arms bares a lion with an Axe very similar to the coins you have, except the Lion on the coat of arms is wearing a crown. These coins might be some type of token and not a coin at all. They look hand made, but not that old, old but not before coin stamping presses were available. I magnified the pictures to 200% and can't see any markings which is (to me) unusual for their age. One is more worn then the other but that's about it that I can tell. I am new at this type of research when compared to most of these other folks, I could be way off.
I did see some coins from Norway with a similar lion on them. Hmm makes me wonder, both my wife's grandmother & grandfather were in the Navy during the 30's and 40's.
They're hand made, not struck. The more warn coin has 168 (aprox) hammered strikes in the six point star, and the one coin in better condition has 189 (aprox) strikes in its six point star. I'm guessing the bird in the star is an eagle. The Token idea, not sure what they would have used tokens for back in your wifes Grand Mothers day, but I guess anything is possible. I this forum go to 1964 Norwegian Coin.
What are these? That makes perfect sence. What is throwing me off in my research is that they are handmade, which could lead me to consider they were made in or around the 17th Century. Coins though from this period didn't always bare marks such as any printed information. The figures on the coins themselves were enough I suppose as marks back when they were made. I still think Norway is where they are from. The coins I have seen from Norway bare both a lion and or an eagle with an outstreached neck. I wasn't able to come across a coin or a token with both a lion and an eagle on it though. I have contacted a collector who is familiar with coins from Europe and have asked him to take a look. Hopefully he'll know something.
As well as Denmark and Germany. So the tokens/medals are at least I would think from this part of the world, helps narrow down our search area. Thanks!
These appear to be handmade love tokens done by someone with actual artistic abilities. The lions look Dutch or Scottish. Very nice!
Love Tokens I'll look, hopefully there was a lot of love going around back then and we'll be able to find traceable information or similar coins/tokens or medals. Thanks for your imput.
Will do. I know (or at least believe I know) where they are from, but I never asked you where your wife's Grandmother lived (Nationality), her last name, DOB and DOPassing. This information is helpful because that may help me pin-point her location of residence better, making it easier to possibly find out more about the coin, token or medal. Generally speaking I am guessing that these coins are much older then your wifes Gm was, possibly family keepsakes from her Maiden family or her husbands. Or she may have found them digging in someones garden...who knows. On your end doing a family search could help you find out more about these too. I agree with another poster here that they were creatively and wonderfully handmade. The symbols though reflect their country. The Lion with the Axe is popular in Denmark, Norway, Germany and their neighbors. The one thing throwing me off though is that it is not wearing a crown, (which could actually predate the more popular design where it does wear the crown; which is helpful in dating the coins also). The Lions from these other countries do...? The bird as far as I can tell is an eagle. In some research that I had come across people were not sure what type of bird it was because of the neck being so long. So, from what I have found at least, you know that it is more then likely from Europe. What they are remains to be unknown, but I agree with another posters that it is either a token of some type or a medal. I am leaning more towards it being a token because usually medals have some way (normally) of being teathered or clasped with a chain or ribbon. It could be a coin too though, because coins from the 17th century and before didn't always have script associated with them. The only thing here though are their condition. Coins that bore no script from the 17th C. and earlier seemed to be well worn out; yours are in pretty good shape for being so estimatedly old. If they are coins either one of the symbols could reflect the coins market value like our coins do today. If you can share the information about your wifes Gm, it would be helpful. Thanks!
The designs on these tokens or medals are the backside designs off other coins. Trying to pinpoint what, when and by whom will be tough at best to detect. Not knowing for sure what they are I do not believe they are coins but is an artists attempt to create a "love" token of sorts. He or she may have liked the designs and thought it would be a good idea to have them together on one. Sold as a good luck sharm, who knows... Thanks, this as been an intersting search. (I have no life, can you tell?)
Hmm, Germany has never used the lion. However, some countries in what later became Germany did. A Norwegian "context", as mentioned here before, makes much more sense. Christian
This is really interesting. A nice numismatic mystery. I agree the lion looks Norwegian. Then again, the eagles in the middle of the stars look German (?) The pattern along the rim looks like dragon style (Scandinavian), or an attempt on this. The Norwegian lion has had many designs throughout the ages. It looks like a design late 19th century -> to me. Another question: Do the coins look collar struck? Norwegian coins were not collar struck until the late 1820's, to my knowledge. My first thought was: Might this have been tokens made for jewish internation camps related to Norway/Germany during WWII? I will post a link to this discussion on a Norwegian discussion board. Maybe we'll get more information there. Norwegian Shields with lion 17th-20th century:
C, That maybe true if they are coins made by the German government. These look to be handmade, the artist looks to have used what he or she liked as far as the individual contexts are concerned and if so they could have been made anywhere; it's why I asked the original poster where his wifes Grandmother was born and her DOB.
