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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;seth77, post: 7892190, member: 56653&quot;]I&#039;d like this to become an ongoing thread about things that we just could not identify properly, although they are detailed enough to grant an identification. These things can often be confusing and frustrating but provide a constant source of mystery and a riddle to be (eventually) solved.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ll start:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1361901[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>PB 16mm 1.55g tessera mercantile, cca. 14-15th century.</p><p>Shield with coat of arms flanked by two annulets/letters(?) and an open crown on top, inside wired border.</p><p>RE... O... CVS(?) (gothic lettering); Cross pattee.</p><p><br /></p><p>A very tentative identification could be made based mostly on the shield with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_III,_Lord_of_Hanau#/media/File:Grafen_von_Hanau-Scheibler309ps.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_III,_Lord_of_Hanau#/media/File:Grafen_von_Hanau-Scheibler309ps.jpg" rel="nofollow">coat of arms</a> that seems to be similar to the one used by either the Count of Ravensberg or the Hause of Hanau during the reign of Ulrich III von Hanau (1343/6-1369/70) or Ulrich IV (1369/70-1380). The Gothic lettering though might indicate a later date, sometime in the 15th century. The overall appearance of the coin is made to emulate the billon coinage of the Middle Ages, the denier or the pfennig or the mite. </p><p><br /></p><p>Similar shield with similar coat of arms appears also on a very rare pfennig of Voorst from around 1300, see <a href="https://www.atmikes.be/index.php/14de-eeuw/1480-anoniem-penning-voorst-z-j-ca-eind-13de-begin-14de-eeuw" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.atmikes.be/index.php/14de-eeuw/1480-anoniem-penning-voorst-z-j-ca-eind-13de-begin-14de-eeuw" rel="nofollow">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Both Hanau (Ulrich IV Sire of Hanau, folio 28r) and Voorst (Gauthier van Voorst, folio 88v) coats of arms are depicted in the <a href="https://uurl.kbr.be/1733715?fbclid=IwAR2kk9zMzdrnEH2NGLgsWPAvilMQjLppKao9zSoLBInqrY3eUrFMPS74k70" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://uurl.kbr.be/1733715?fbclid=IwAR2kk9zMzdrnEH2NGLgsWPAvilMQjLppKao9zSoLBInqrY3eUrFMPS74k70" rel="nofollow">Gerle Wapenboek</a>, alongside the coat of arms of the Count of Ravensberg (folio 37v), which means they were in use before 1395-1402 (or cca. 1370-1414, when herald Claes Heinenszoon, the author of the armorial was likely active), which would also correspond with the dating of this tessera on stylistic grounds. </p><p><br /></p><p>The armorial shows other similar coats of arms like: </p><p><br /></p><p>- Walter Manny (Sire de Masny, 1st Baron Manny, c.1347-1372, folio 3v, 84r)</p><p>- Eberhard I von Eppenstein (Sire of Eppenstein, c.1360-1391, folio 32r)</p><p>- Yon III de Garencieres (Sire of Garencieres and Baudemont, cca. 1370/80-1400, folio 51v)</p><p>- Earls de Clare of Gloucester (folio 57v)</p><p>- Gauthier van Wesele (Sire of Sombeke, folio 74r)</p><p>- Arnold van Born (Sire of Elsloo, folio 75r)</p><p>- Jean de Grijspere (folio 82r)</p><p><br /></p><p>A connection with any of these lords would be a very interesting and novel historical detail. If this &#039;tessera&#039; (token) was minted for any of these lords, perhaps the conditions were similar to the ones applied to the monastic mints that were allowed to coin lead money by the lord suzerain.</p><p><br /></p><p>An example of lead coinage in the Holy Roman Empire from Abbaye St. Aldegonde - Maubeuge:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1361909[/ATTACH] </p><p>(From Kunker Auction 121 De Wit Collection, p. 429)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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