|
Date: |
|
Description: | A cast copper-alloy coin-weight produced c.1340 probably for a chaisse d'or of Philip IV or a double d'or of Philip VI, both of which depicted a seated king. The uniface circular coin-weight measures 17.1mm in diameter, it is 3.73mm thick and weighs 5.89g. The design on the front shows a king seated on a throne holding a sceptre under a canopy. An inscription to each side reads: ESTEV-E MVSA in lombardic script (starting at 2 o'clock). The reverse is flat with several filing marks where the mass was adjusted.Paul Withers comments (2014 pers. comm): There are certain problems with identifying this coin-weight. Most likely it is for a chaisse d'or of Philip IV or a double d'or of Philip VI, issued 1340, both of which depicted a seated king. The first one was 7.1 gm and the second 6.8 gm. Coin-weights for French gold coins were not issued until the 1340s at the earliest. The reference for this particular example is Dieudonné (Poids Monétaires, Paris, 1925); page 86 1d). All of the recorded weights for these coins are rather lighter than the expected mass, yours, however, is very light indeed. However, it does look as if it has had a hard life. There are also problems as to what the coins were called at the time and various coin-weights differ being marked for POIS DE MAS, POIS DE MACE or similar, or the parisis d'or, also depicting a seated king, which is marked PARISI DOR or similar. The legend which you are are having difficulty deciphering is not that of a denomination, but ESTEV-E MVSA which is the name of a lombard (?) issuer. There is a die duplicate of this particular coin-weight in the Bibliotheque nationale, Paris.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
|