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Description: | I have examined a silver object reported found at Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire. The object is a piedfort striking of the coin known as denier parisis of Philip IV the Fair, King of France (1285-1314). The type was originally produced in 1307-10 (ref : Duplessy no. 221; an older reference, Lafaurie, no. 224, includes a record of a piedfort striking of the denomination).
Finds of single coins are not normally considered as potential Treasure. However, non-functional coins or coin-like objects do have the potential to be so considered. The first piedfort reported under the Treasure system was found in 2007 and was declared to be Treasure.
Piedforts are unusual objects and their actual purpose has never been clearly established. In most cases, they are objects struck from the dies of a currency coin, but using a blank of unusual thickness and weight. However, the weights of surviving piedforts do not seem to relate to the weights of the currency coins ?? they are never multiples of these. This is the most obvious feature that sets them apart from usable currency coins. In this case, the weight of the currency coin was something around 1.17g, but the piedfort weighs 7.19g (the piedfort denier parisis listed by Lafaurie weighed 9.7g). The fineness of the denier parisis was about 36% silver and the piedfort will, presumably, be of this fineness, although it also appears to have been gilded.
The first piedforts are known from the later 13th century from France, England and other principalities in the region. They continued to be produced into the 16th century, longer in the case of France. Although all individual piedforts are rare, they are relatively common as a phenomenon in the French coinage especially. As noted above, piedforts of this denomination have long been known and recorded.
A number of ideas have been put forward to explain piedforts. It is very unlikely that they are pattern (experimental) coins, since they are made with currency dies (in some cases the same die has been identified used both on normal coins and a piedfort). Nor is it likely that they were created as guides for mint workers. Perhaps the likeliest idea is that they were made for the use of important officials, who might utilise them as reckoning counters. This would certainly account for them turning up far from home and away from any context of currency. One or two ordinary deniers parisis have been found in England, but they are much less common than the other main French low value coin, the denier tournois.
The argument for piedforts being eligible to be considered as Treasure is similar to that employed for coin jewellery, i.e. that they are not usable coins but are in fact something else. The case for piedforts is potentially stronger, in that coins turned into jewellery were undoubtedly made originally to be used as money and may indeed have served this purpose for a while. Piedforts, whatever their purpose, were not intended to be used as coins in any meaningful sense and probably could not have been (any more than, say, a silver spoon could have). If this argument is accepted, then there is a case for this item, being substantially of silver (over 30%), to be considered as Treasure under the terms of the Act.
Dr Barrie J. Cook
Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage
Department of Coins and Medals
British Museum
16 October 2008 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Slarke, Duncan - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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