I been on a self imposed hiatus from buying coins because I have, shall we say "overindulged" of late.... But I keep getting emails with awesome coins in them.... This is today's coin of interest. The listing calls this piece a Schwäbisch Hall Handheller. My little bit of research called the piece a "Hand of God" and dates the piece to the 13th century. Other than the coins "cool" factor by coincidence I spent a great deal of my Army time in Schwäbish Gmund and I am assuming this would be the same region as the coins history. Anyway, I thought I would ask my CT buddies about the piece and see if anyone here may know more about it.
Hand of god coin or plague coin, another theory I read somewhere is that it shows the glove of the king allowing the city to mint coins.
I was intrigued by the "Hand of God" reference but am a bit disturbed by the "plague" reference. I guess that is a reference to the Black Plague that decimated Europe?
What you have to understand Randy is that when a coin is referred to as a "plague" coin there is a bit more to it than just the fact that it was minted during the plague. The time period/s during the plague were times of great difficulty that affected all aspects of life - including any and all of those that had anything to do with the minting of coins. From the mines where the silver originated resulting in shortages, to those who transported it to the mints, to the smelters, to the die engravers, to literally anyone and everyone that had anything to do with minting coins. A large percentage of the population was dead or dying so there simply weren't people to perform those task during these periods. And example of this would be the very design of the coin itself - notice its simplicity. Normally coins of this time period have very elaborate and complicated designs. But not this one, and that's probably because there was a shortage or even a complete lack of die engravers. So it's likely that an apprentice performed the work you see on the coin because that's all he or they were capable of. There are also many other examples of coins from throughout Europe that are referred to as siege coins, because the period during a siege is also a time of great difficulty. So there are usually several specifics that make siege coins different from those struck during ordinary times much as the one you're referring to is different from those struck during ordinary times. So while "plague" is a negative reference in many ways its primary intent here is to refer to a time of great difficulty.
But Randy, don't you have a brand new "surrogate" buyer who can act on your behalf? I would enlist her services......she can't be blamed for loving you!
In Biblical days certain coins were only used by leper’s. Not sure about the entire story and the only thing I know about your coin is I like it and Christmas is only 138 days away. LOL
The hand heller was issued for a long period. The Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347, toward the end of that long run. The cross and the hand are apparently the armorial blazons of Schabisch Hall found on the city's coat of arms:
Now this is great information. I been scouring Google to see which arrived first. The coat of arms or the coin.
