✅ SOLVED I have a Nuremberg counter token. Need help identifying who is on the token.

[Alan Payne]

Found in Florida, is it authentic or counterfeit or replica. Thanks for your time and attention.

 

[Red-Coat]

Good find. I don't see any reason to doubt the jeton's authenticity. The legend is too far gone for me to reliably read, but it's a 'Rose and Orb' type. This from the BC&A website:

Nuremberg 3 | BC&A

www.rodblunt.com

 

[grasshopper]

Looks real to me

 

[Bramblefind]

Great find! Did you find it at a site or on the beach? Have you found any other old stuff like this? It's definitely a rare find for Florida. They have excavated them at Jamestown. Here's their page about the ones they found there -

Rose and Orb Jetton | Historic Jamestowne

Visit the real thing at Historic Jamestowne, explore the actual location and active archaeological dig, Jamestown Rediscovery, home of the first successful English settlement.

historicjamestowne.org

 

[Alan Payne]

Good find. I don't see any reason to doubt the jeton's authenticity. The legend is too far gone for me to reliably read, but it's a 'Rose and Orb' type. This from the BC&A website:

View attachment 2255863

Nuremberg 3 | BC&A

www.rodblunt.com

Thanks for the reply, I was just noticing the way the letters look. They don’t look like any of the letters on any types of Jeton coins. Also, the crown side has circles above the crown, whereas all the crowns of any other coin I have looked at on the web do not. Just wondering if anyone could find an authenticated coin that has the specific features I mentioned. Also, the orb side has the circles too. Strange to find this in Florida, unless it was part of someone’s collection that the kids lost in the yard. Hard to think it was lost back in the 15th or 16th century in Florida.

 

[Alan Payne]

Great find! Did you find it at a site or on the beach? Have you found any other old stuff like this? It's definitely a rare find for Florida. They have excavated them at Jamestown. Here's their page about the ones they found there -

Rose and Orb Jetton | Historic Jamestowne

Visit the real thing at Historic Jamestowne, explore the actual location and active archaeological dig, Jamestown Rediscovery, home of the first successful English settlement.

historicjamestowne.org

Thanks for the info, no, I haven’t found anything that old, but did find a 1777 1 reale. I am approximately 45 miles from St. Augustine, Palatka, Fl near the St. John’s.

 

[Red-Coat]

Thanks for the reply, I was just noticing the way the letters look. They don’t look like any of the letters on any types of Jeton coins. Also, the crown side has circles above the crown, whereas all the crowns of any other coin I have looked at on the web do not. Just wondering if anyone could find an authenticated coin that has the specific features I mentioned. Also, the orb side has the circles too. Strange to find this in Florida, unless it was part of someone’s collection that the kids lost in the yard. Hard to think it was lost back in the 15th or 16th century in Florida.

Given that the generic rose and orb design with a myriad of variations was used by numerous makers over a peiod of three centuries, you may never find an exact match. If the legends were readable, they might include a manufacturer name that leads to a more precise date, but not all of them did.

The legends are sometimes things like religious quotes or proverbs, and some have 'blundered' legends consisting of a meaningless jumble of letters and often using archaic letter forms as the characters.

Jetons like this were cheaply produced and didn't circulate as currency, so there would be no point in counterfeiting them in contemporary times. Maybe later reproductions for souvenir purposes exist, but yours looks like it has been in the ground for a long time.

When first produced they had a shiny 'golden' appearance if made from brass, and the copper ones were sometimes gilded or lacquered to make them more 'gold-like'. For that reason, they were often later holed for use as necklet pendants (particularly by sailors), and later used as watch fobs or other adornments. Given that yours is holed, I would guess it was repurposed for similar usage and in, that respect, such items can turn up almost anywhere.

 

[Alan Payne]

Thanks for the in-depth understanding of this type of artifact. I think it is genuine, but still is hard to imagine. Thanks again