A guy sent me this picture of his item. Just what is it? Any ideas? The pattern is from a French ecu 1726 to 1740. It looks to be very high quality. Do you think this came from a real minting operation back in 1726, or is it used to make fakes by casting, or what ??? Any help appreciated. It is an interesting piece. -- Paul Richards
It appears to be an anvil die. edit - that design matches no coin in any denomination that I can find. Look at the leaves in the wreath, completely different.
Thanks, GDJMSP. Over at ForumAncientCoins one participant posted the idea that it is a print block from 1726 used for printing announcements about the new coins. That is the best explanation I've heard so far. Forum thread is here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=82078.0 -- Thanks, Paul Richards
Possible I suppose, but in all the reading I have done I have never heard of such announcements ever being made. One thing for sure though it's not a die as I thought when I first looked at it. Everything on a die would be incuse and that is in relief. DOH ! But if it were a printing block for announcements I can't imagine the W mint mark being used. I would think they would A for Paris. Nor do I think the design would be so different. But .......... Ask the owner more particulars about the item, ie: is it metal or wood or a combination, how big is it, what it is the diameter of the design.
Could possibly have been used to create a mold for casting copies, though the mold would have pretty weak details.
