I'm in possession of a small foreign coin about the same diameter as a US nickel It is bronze in color and very thin, much thinner than any other coin I've ever encountered. It's very light and might be aluminum but it does have a bit of that "ring" that silver coins have when they hit a hard surface. It's germanic and undated. One side has a profile of some guy wearing a hair style and jacket style that could be from anywhere between 1700 and 1820. The other side is a woman, possibly Diana (the Huntress), holding a bow in her left hand and a thin dog (whippet? greyhound?) on a leash in her right hand, facing a stand of trees. There is no date on the coin. It's rather poorly-struck. The strike is offset to the right of the blank, on the reverse; and to the left of the obverse. There is writing. As best I can make it out on the obverse, it reads, clockwise: LVD; then an X in smaller type; then VI then DG; then FRET or ERET; then NAVR or HAVR On the reverse it reads, clockwise: R ECH PFENN across the top right quadrant and LAUER at the bottom of the coin. There is not even a hint of an I between the R and the E in R ECH (yes, I know how to spell reich but the gap between the letters is between the R and the E); I don't think it's a Reich penny from Germany but could be wrong. Besides, the only reason I think it's germanic is the PFENN is probably pfennig. But none of the Reich pfennig images online match what I have. The LVD, X, and VI, above, could be Roman numerals for dates but if so, they don't make any sense. I've checked out all the Lauer "jeton" coin images online and this doesn't match any of them. Anyone have any ideas?
Stevent,welcome aboard.It looks like you have a reckoning counter.Can you please post some photos,so that we can confirm its identity? Aidan.
Probably from one of the pre-Empire German States with a Ludwig ruler. Considering that Krause has hundreds of pages of German States in the 18th and 19th Century volumes, without a picture to compare it may be just about impossible to identify by anyone without an intimate knowledge of German history.
Thanks for the welcome! And thanks to all for pretty much confirming what I thought it was. I'll dig around for our digicam and try to u/l a good photo or two. BTW, at the risk of ignoring the FAQ, what's this "Krause" I keep seeing mentioned? I assume a reference of some sort. Is it expensive?
It's shorthand for the Standard Catalog of World Coins, published by Krause Publications, a related company to the one that publishes Numismatic News and World Coin News, along with many other coin and collectible catalogs and magazines. The original authors were Chester Krause and Clifford Mishler. Colin Bruce is the current Editor. It's published in telephone book-sized volumes covering each century from the 17th on with descriptions, estimated values in various grades, more than 100,000 mostly actual size pictures, and a lot of other very useful information, including coin identification aids. All except the new 21st Century book are the size of directories for very large cities (the 2007 20th Century is 2,002 pages). The 20th and 21st Century editions are updated annually, and the others are updated every few years. If you are strictly a US coin collector it is ridiculously expensive. If you are a world coin collector you need to have at least the last two volumes, and perhaps all five, depending on your interests. Individual list prices range from $30-65 per volume, but they are frequently available on-line at discounted prices. Used editions are usually available at much lower prices.
Drusus,you CAN buy the newest catalogues on www.amazon.com .That is how my boss & I found out about the 2005 edition of Krause's 'Unusual World Coins' catalogue.The postage from Germany is dirt cheap. Aidan.
It's definitely a Lauer (Nurenberg) reckoning `jeton'. From the data provided I suspect that it was manufactured for one of the kings administrations. Possibly the one dealing with the countryside (`Eau et Forets'). Louis XVI of France and Navarre would be how I would interpret the `Lud XVI DG FR ET Nav R(EX). The item doesn't sound to be in all that a good condition judging by your difficulty in reading the legends (?). PS Krause wouldn't be of any use to you for that item. It doesn't cover jetons.
Cool! Thanks, Ian, that sounds spot-on! It's not in great condition, no. There is very little wear, actually, but it's a very poor strike, offset from the blank as I've noted above and, I guess this happens? It looks like the die might have been dirty. The letters I can read are quite clear and well-defined but the ones I can't are because there are little raised "anomalies" close to the letter itself, making it hard to read. Ah, well, I'll hold onto it. Thanks!
By the way, and I'm not looking for a price quote, but is this worth more than $1 or two? My 7-year-old daughter has taken a delightful and unexpected interest in old coins and I'd like to give her a couple to call her own. Thanks, Steve (Great forum, btw, very lively! )
Values of jetons vary tremendously dependent upon a number of different factors. Although my main collecting focus is `jetons', Nurenberg manufactured jetons are not my speciality area. As such I can't honestly give you an indication of value. I've seen jetons with little or no value sell for way over the odds at auction due to bidiots. I've also seen jetons that are worth a fortune sell for peanuts due to public disinterest and ignorance ....or collectors simply being asleep at the wheel. You would be safer simply holding on to it until you get a reference for it. I would. However, at the same time I also think you would be wise to assume that it is worth only $2-$5. The vast majority of these rechenpfennings are. Having said that, you never know when there will be an upsurge in people developing an interest in them. It is a fascinating subject area. The reference you need is Michael Mitchiner's `Jetons, Medalets & Tokens volume One' which specifically deals with Nurenberg jetons. I don't have it. Sadly, like most speciality literature, it's a bit on the pricey side (especially if you are only needing information on one jeton!). Perhaps you might be able to find one through the library system, but I suspect not....unless you have really exceptionally good library. If you get the chance to image the item, post it here and i'll see what i can do about getting it valued (as in getting hold of someone with the appropriate literature). Or maybe someonelse seeing this might know someone with the vol. in question........ bon chance (as the french would say). Ian
Thanks, Ian, you've been very helpful. I'll hold on to it for now. Let me see if I can't dig up that digicam......
Here you go, Ian. I ended up scanning them. Please note that the details, the lettering in particular, is quite a bit fuzzier in the scan. Steve
Just about every public library in the US belongs to an inter-library loan system, and a chat with your librarian may very well turn up a source from which your library can obtain the book for a short time. It's definitely worth the time it will take to contact your library. If you are an ANA member, another possible source is the ANA library, which lends out numismatic books for the cost of return postage.
Ian and Satootoko, thanks for all your assistance. As it turns out, a friend on another (completely unrelated) forum who happens to collect coins was able to nail this one pretty well. Here's the link he found, for your general information: http://www.napoleonicmedals.org/coins/h274.htm Thanks once again!
That site belongs to Vern McRea, one of the people I had intended asking about your jeton. Note that the image shown is a variant of your one (yours has `Lauer' in the exergue reverse). It doesn't say which administration it was made for, but i'm pretty suure that is as I originally suspected due to the hunting scene. Why not email Vern? He might be able to give you an idea as to its market value.
Just one last follow-up; Vern was very helpful and quite friendly. He confirmed everything, including that the jeton's main value is as a historical artifact. Fun stuff!
