Hi there, This is my first submission on this coin forum so I hope I've done it right.... basically, I'm looking for some help to identify a lovely hammered coin. It's really very attractive but I'm stumped with what it actually is. There's no excuse really because most of the detail is present, but I can't find it in any of my reference books. I've attached some pictures so I hope they show up - any thoughts ? Cheers.....
Welcome Doug. You sure did. I don't really have any references that are likely to help, but the combination of a fleur-de-lis design and what looks like an English crowned standing lion brings Normandy to mind, as historically that's an area of France that was under English rule for a while.
I originally thought it was Scottish because of the lion rampant, and the french were closely aligned around the tudor era. I just can't find it when looking in Scottish reference books, and I know nothing about French. I was wondering whether it might be some other European country, perhaps even Dutch?
Hi Doug, The piece in the scans sports the Arms of the Dukes of Burgundy, in this case Charles the Bold (1467-1477). As to the piece in question, the cross fleury on the obverse should have a distinct fleur de lis at the centre. Your one looks a bit like a squiggle of some kind. that and a couple of other things makes me inclined to think that it is a counterfeit, perhaps a contemporary one I don't know and there is only so much you can tell from a scan. If genuine it's a Double Gros, was issued by Charles the Bold of Burgundy for Flanders. It should measure approx. 28mm across the diameter give or take a mm for the filing down it's probably had. It should also be silver. Yours looks a little too coppery to me if i'm to be perfectly honest. How did you come across this? Ian
Excellent information, thank you. I took the pictures quickly without flooding light. My camera isn't up-to-date and makes its own adjustments which is why the colours look odd. The background is actually a sky blue! I collect British silver and this coin is consistent with others I've got so I'm confident it is silver. I actually bought a "varied lot of British hammered silver" at auction. This was one of the coins in the lot so evidently the guy doing the attribution didn't know either !!
If genuine you got yourself a nice coin. I'm still a little concerned about the indistinct centre of the cross. May be the result of worn dies, but I haven't come across that lack of definition before on what appears to be a fairly well struck coin. The obverse legends should read `sit nomen domini benedictum' followed by a couple of mint marks. Yours has a couple of characters between the mint makrs and `sit....' which i'm having difficulty placing for Flanders. Perhaps it could have been minted for the Brabant, as it doesn't present an exact match for the Flanders issue. That's about as much as I can tell you i'm afraid..
Don't worry, your information is totally superb, thank you. I meant to say before that it is 27mm diam so you got it spot on! It's interesting to find out some info now, but not really in my scope of interest for the future, so I'll probably let it hit eBay in the New Year. Thanks again......
