Greetings Vit, I think it's an English hammered penny from the 15th centaury. There will be others chime in with more accurate information momentarily, trust me Bone
Most definatively not from any of the British Isles, think continental, and quite possibly France. I suggest this from the style of the tressure around the central device on the obverse of the piece, which is gothic in appearance and was used on French coins of that era.
possibly Netherlands. Doug,if you're around,didn't we ID a Dutch coin a while back with a VERY similar pattern? Remember I found a website with pics and you nailed the exact coin from the link...I can't seem to find the post but this coin looks familiar.It was a silver variation of something like a goldengugen (sp.?)???
I found the link,don't see a match but the design on the obverse looks very similar to a lot of Dutch/Flanders coins. http://someoldcoins.org/saur/g/s169.htm Example:
Thanks! I found my coin on this site - http://someoldcoins.org/saur/g/m079.htm Mark (counts) Gerhard 1422-61 groschen (25 mm), no date Hörde mint
French mediaeval coinage is difficult enough. It is nigh on impossible to follow these German lineages without making it a lifes work. I knew it wasn't French. I also knew it wasn't the low countries. I suspected one of the minor German states, but short of searching through Die Saurmasche I had no idea which one. Count Gerhard das Marck (died 1461) it is, and a pretty rare coin it be at that. Ian
hehe...ur welcome.The site is a treasure trove but I got tired of looking after a while,good job.I knew the trilobe design was familiar,just didn't realize how widespread it was. Those darn German States again Ian..LOL
The site is indeed a treasure trove. The navigation of it takes a bit of acclimatisation though. Mind you, the subject matter is vast and understanding it all is made exceedingly complex by marriages seeing territory change to different families in different countries. As an aside...an interesting (and cheap) book which provides extremely useful information on European heraldry is `Lines of Succession' by Jiri Louda and Michael MacLagan (Barnes and Noble). It was first published in 1999 and has been re printed a few times since. For a small book, it doesn't quite extend to covering the lineage of every minor state/ principality, but it is still a very useful addition to the library of anyone interested in european history / coinage. I got a copy as a gift two or three years back but would have willingly spent the noted price of $7.98 a few times over for it. Ian
