I am a bit lost with this coin and not sure where to start. I collect mostly Spanish and German from 1600’s and newer so this I’m a bit out of my element with this coin. it’s a thin hammered coin. Not sure of metal but I assume copper/bronze. thanks, mike
English jeton 1350-1400 standing king under canopy Mitchiner no. 278-279. Michael Mitchiner “Jetons Medalets And Tokens The Medieval Period And Nuremberg “ Hope this helps.
That's a very cool example, @01mikep. The imitation of English reverses is unusual. Apart from the really early English ones, which copy Edwardian pennies, the ones I know of in this range (into the 14th century) imitate contemporary French gold issues --with a tip o' the hat to @panzerman. Yep, @jtlartgallery, it was looking to be on the early, later 14th-century side. Glad you nailed it. Early jetons are the kind of thing that make me sit up whenever I see one for sale. They're a little late for me, but they're just fun --especially for the motifs they imitate. Here's a recent favorite, with a similar obverse motif, echoing 14th-century French and Anglo-Gallic gold ecus. Obv. legend: +AVE M [...]ARIA. ...For attribution, I only go by style and whatever turns up on the internet, including anything the seller (often enough a detectorist in the UK) has to say. @jtlartgallery (or anyone else), would you happen to know of any available copies of Mitchiner ...anywhere? Another question: jetons (UK: jettons) were ostensibly issued and used primarily for bookkeeping; a sort of collective, exonumic version of an abacus. But from the detector finds I've seen, examples that do look more emphatically French, along with the later Nuremburg ones, turn up in the UK all the time. Is it possible that, in the complete absence of an official AE coinage, they might have functioned as small change? One contemporary phenomenon in England are the small, fractional Venetian grossos which one UK dealer told me often circulated as farthings.
The one you pictured is a French jeton.They did circulate in England and can be differentiated from the English ones by the lack of a small central indent on the flan .The English used a different coining method.Its from the king under the canopy series .It’s a king standing with scepter ave maria jeton Mitchiner no.403-404.Mitchiner books are hard to come by.I purchased mine probably 30 years ago.The books are beautiful and collectable.
Thanks all, I’ll keep my eye out for the book but didn’t see any available anywhere at first glance. Much appreciated. mike
Many thanks on all counts, @jtlartgallery! I've noticed the little indents, but had no idea of their significance, especially in reference to the French ones. Did the English coining method have any real similarity to those humongous Ptolemaic AEs, fondly known here as 'hockey pucks'? ...Right, Mitchiner is one of those things you could wish someone would reprint.
From what I have read the piercings or indents on English counters were introduced by Edward 1 to prevent slivering and the false use of his counters as coins.The practice then persisted as a peculiarly English tradition .I believe the Ptolemaic AEs indents are thought to be either vise marks or tong marks made to help in the preparation of the blanks before the coin was struck.
Many thanks, @jtlartgallery! Wow. Guess I actually learned something today (--guaranteed 100% irony-free!) :<}
A little late to this thread... This jeton has a direct copy of the obverse portrait (except canopy) from John II the Good (1350-1364) 1351 Denier d'or aux fleurs de lis - Jean II. So you can date it to 1351 onwards.
