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Description: | Post-Medieval silver coin: Shilling of Edward VI (North Ref: 1937). The coin has a flat band of silver, 1.65mm in depth, fitted around its circumference. This would have meant that the coin could not be used as tender; suggestions given for this have included that it was for use as a gaming counter including as a shuffleboard token or as a commemorative medal. The banding and coin have very similar discolouration patterns with some superficial black colouration. There are also some slight traces of orange brown coloration around the perimeter of the coin close to the banding - this is presumably due to whatever agent was employed in adhering the band to the coin.
BM Report:
"I have examined a coin found at Towersey. It is a silver shilling of King Edward VI??s Third Period (1550-3), initial mark Y (1550-1), from the London mint. In this period the government of Edward VI had ceased to issue debased silver and restored the traditional sterling standard (92.5% fine metal) to its new issues. As a result, coins of this issue were not affected by Elizabeth I??s recoinage of the old debased money in 1560-1 and remained in currency long into the 17th century.
Normally a single coin find is not eligible to be considered as Treasure. However, coins removed from currency and converted into items of jewellery are eligible thus to be considered and this coin appears to fall into a similar category. It has been augmented with a silver rim to permit it to fulfil some non-currency purpose and as a result it is significantly overweight: at 7.11g, it is well above the official weight for a shilling of 6g in the late 16th and 17th centuries: most shillings in regular use were significantly under 6g. As a result, it would not have survived in currency in its present state as a piece of money. The coin itself is quite worn, so it seems unlikely that the rim was there to act as a mount for jewellery purposes. The altered coin might have been intended to serve as a counter, since in some cases high-status sets of reckoning counters were made up by using numbers of actual silver coins in a silver cylinder or box ?? adding the rim might have both rendered the coins being used as distinctive and also made them better fitted to their container. Alternatively, the coin was altered to be set aside for use in a popular pastime, similar to shove-halfpenny, which is documented for the Tudor and Stuart periods ?? the utilisation of the broad and distinctive shillings of Edward VI in this game is specifically recorded.
To summarise: the coin found at Towersey is of good silver. It has been augmented to give it a non-coin function and, as a result, is analogous to an item of coin jewellery or a precious-metal medal or counter. If this proposal is accepted, the Towersey find would, in my opinion, fulfil the criteria of Treasure, according to the terms of the Act.
Dr Barrie J. Cook
Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage
Department of Coins and Medals
British Museum
31 July 2007" | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Burrill, Charlotte - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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