MARCH  NEWSLETTER

 

Next meeting: Monday 8th April 2013 - Collecting 17th Century tokens by feature – Mr D Powell.   Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, Reading, commencing at 8.00 pm, doors open at 7pm. Note that this is the second Monday of the month, the first being the Easter Monday holiday.

 

NOTICES:

 

March Meeting:  This month’s guest speaker (Mr A Georgeo - ‘Banknotes of Cyprus’) cried off at short notice. Fortunately one of our own members filled in. Graham gave a talk entitled ‘Appreciating our Numismatic History’ to 21 attendees.

Using a very large number of pictures this talk was a journey covering many different coins, medals and tokens from modern to ancient and much in between - all described in Grahams eloquent commentary.

Starting with the reverse depictions of recent Olympic coins with their connection to ancient times, Graham then travelled back to ancient Greece. Selecting some of classical images Graham commented on their meaning. Examples included those of Alexander, Apollo and the horn of Ammon, plus the classic charioteer and dolphins of Syracuse. Having illustrated, and described, several examples of classical coins he moved on to show some fine pictures of our own Celtic coinage with its disjointed depictions of Apollo and a horse drawn chariot, loosely based on the coins of Philip of Macedon. Then it was on to some Roman examples where Graham provided some interpretations of the reverse designs and how they conveyed messages to the population. Next came some Anglo Saxon pieces followed by some medieval and then some Tudor, including a fine counter engraved by Simon DE Passe.  It was then into the milled series right up to modern times. Graham illustrated and described many of the classic coins from each era, including the Rawlins crown with the Oxford skyline, Oliver Cromwell’s coins with an English legend rather than one in the traditional ‘Popeish’ Latin, and several examples of each subsequent monarch. Graham spoke briefly about the George 3rd countermarked 8 Reales with a value of 4/9d, that led to such derogatory comments as ‘Two heads not worth a crown’ or ‘The head of a fool on the head of an ass’. Later he also covered the striking ‘Britannia standing’ reverse of the Edward 7th florins. After briefly covering some Elizabeth II coins the talk diverged into some good pictures of medals and tokens, principally around the Oxford area. To close Graham illustrated some fine examples of religious and photographic medals, and also one commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first sub 4 minute mile achieved in Oxford.

In this short precise it is difficult to convey the vast amount of commentary Graham gave to each illustration. Suffice to say some 140+ slides were shown. Many thanks, Graham.

 

Upcoming Events

 

 

 

Numismatic Interlude - The Mystery One

Because rampant commercialism seems to have taken over our hobby I have totally changed my collecting habits. Rather than chasing costly regal coins and I now seek out low value pieces that I have no idea what they are at the time of purchase. One such piece is shown below.  It is 29mm in diameter and made of brass.

 

 

                                                             

 

So what have I managed to find out?

As suspected it is a Jeton (casting counter) and is known as the ‘Venus penny’. They first appeared in the late 15th century in the Low Countries, (ie the Burgundian region= Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, part Germany). As counters they were used on special boards as a means of maintaining financial accounts by the merchants of such places as Antwerp and Bruges.

They were most likely based on the jetons of Philip Le Beau. Philip was the son of Maxamilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, and he inherited lands from his mother, Mary of Burgundy. As husband, and successor, of Queen Joanne of Castile he was the first Hapsburg monarch of Castile. As he died before his father, it was his brother who united the Hapsburg, Burgundian and Spanish lands. This information all fits well with the following details of the piece.

 

On one side there is the Austro-Burgundian shield. Austria is represented (top left) by the 3 horizontal lines. The 3 sloping lines (bottom left) and the 3 Lis (top right) represent Burgundy while the Lion rampant + pellet (bottom right) is for Brabant. Above the shield are further emblems of Burgundy – the pellets represent flints and the 3+3 dolphin like shapes are supposed to be the associated sparks.

The other side features a standing figure with flowing hair doing what?  Following the turbulent and war torn 15th century in the final years of that century there seems to have been a voice for pacification, ie, maintaining peace and not making war. While there may have been several ways to promote this message, one such form was a series of jetons promoting peace. This is undoubtedly one of them for the semi naked figure with flowing hair is watering flowers from a pot in her left hand. More flowers are in her right hand but the bird present on the earlier design is not here. The whole tranquil scene supposedly represents peace, hope and love – 16th century flower power! !

 

So why the name ‘Venus penny’?  Possibly because the message on the jeton is peace and love, and the goddess of love is Venus. Additionally, one of the more famous depictions of the Venus story is Botticelli’s famous 15th century painting, ‘the Birth of Venus’, painted in 1486. The portrayal of Venus from this painting is shown below. Comparing the pose on the jeton with the painting there is a striking resemblance, but there the similarity ends as the jeton lady is a million mile from being beautiful. In fact the rendition is quite grotesque. It is worth noting that the first jetons of this type are contemporary with the painting.

 

 

With regard to the legend more research is needed, because as yet it is not deciphered/ understood. These popular Venus pennies were widely copied, especially in mid 16th century in Nuremburg. Thus not only did the multitude of legends change but many are both fictitious and meaningless. Generally the earlier types from the Low Countries have Gothic lettering while the later ones have Roman lettering.

The use of these jetons was not confined to the Low Countries. Many have been found in the mud layers of the Thames foreshore. It has been suggested that in the Low Countries these jetons circulated along general coinage and thus came to London by way of trade. The ones found in the Thames come from strata layers contemporary with Henry 7th to Mary. None have been found in the layers pre Henry 7th or the Elizabethan period onwards. Thus the period of circulation is surmised as from the 1490’s to the 1550’s.

 

Researching this history has provided much enjoyment for very little outlay – in contrast to the short lived joy when collecting over priced regal coins.

If anyone can add further information on this jeton please speak to the author.

MJM 2013

 

Club Secretary  21/3/2013.