Congratulations on your beautiful recoveryOnly one decent target today but it's definitely an old one! 1646 French jetton. Trying to get a positive ID on origin. Pretty sure it's the first jetton I've found...rare on this side of the pond.
great save, so rareOnly one decent target today but it's definitely an old one! 1646 French jetton. Trying to get a positive ID on origin. Pretty sure it's the first jetton I've found...rare on this side of the pond.
Very Nice!!!! 1600's!!! Congrats!!!Only one decent target today but it's definitely an old one! 1646 French jeton. Trying to get a positive ID on origin. Pretty sure it's the first jetton I've found...rare on this side of the pond.
Congrats on a very rare find here! She’s in great shape for all those centuries underground! Nicely done!Only one decent target today but it's definitely an old one! 1646 French jeton. Trying to get a positive ID on origin. Pretty sure it's the first jetton I've found...rare on this side of the pond.
Good jeton. These weren’t used as currency. They were counters to be moved around on a chequered board to make financial calculations on similar principles to the way an abacus works. Treasury or banking officials and merchants everywhere used them throughout Europe.
The escutcheon on the undated side is from the Grand Coat of Arms of France and Navarre, in use between 1589-1790:
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Although this jeton was made for French use, it might not have actually been made in France. Many of them were made in Germany for other countries and widely exported.
Louis XIV (Louis the Great) was on the French throne in 1646 and a common legend for these jetons was “LUDOVICUS REX [PLURES] NON CAPIT ORBIS” with an intended meaning that “There is no room in the world for more than one King Louis”. I can’t read it all on yours, but can certainly make out the “CAPIT ORBIS” part to the right of the dated side.
The rest of the design on that side is not readily discernible and neither is the legend on the other side. There are dozens of variations, some generic and some including things like the arms or symbolism for a particularly city or provincial region and/or the name of the city’s mayor.