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Description: | A lead alloy probable token which is likely to be Medieval in date. On one face is a cross crosslet with a central pellet and a pellet in each angle. On the other face is a cross or flower with lentoid arms or petals. In each angle is a crown with an annulet or a rounded letter below. No close parallel has been found for this token, but there are stylistically similar examples in the Salisbury Medieval Catalogue (Part 3, numbers 84 - 87) which date from the 12th or 13th century.This object was found in the vicinity of Finchale Priory, Durham and there is a theory that tokens such as these had ecclesiastical functions. One idea is that they were issued at church services as tallies, so producing your tokens showed how many times you had attended. They may also have been issued as souvenirs for pilgrims (Fletcher 2005).This token has been compared to a large collection recovered from the river at Durham but it does not match any of the designs on those. NCL-244024 is a typical example.David Powell of the Leaden Token Telegraph comments that: "the piece is not typical and does not fit into any regular patterns. Tokens don't usually come this large in the late middle ages, not that there is any absolutely invariable rule, and amongst tokens which are substitute money this sort of diameter is more to be associated with the early-mid 18th cent. However, the design feels much earlier than that, and there is no attempt at personal identity. With a mix of crosses and crowns I am wondering whether this is an ecclesiastical piece. The 17th cent tokens of County Durham contain an unusually large percentage of pieces depicting the king {Charles II}, and I am wondering whether the crowns here are an indication of the abbey's royal allegiance.The piece may be a pass, intended primarily to convey that the bearer was associated with the abbey in some way; e.g. a clergyman, a workman, a pilgrim, or a beggar entitled to benefit from its charity. I would conjecture that that is its most likely use, although the possibility of its being some sort of local money, according to some interpretation understood only in the immediate vicinity, cannot be ruled out."No one has been able to suggest a close parallel yet.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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