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Description: | A Medieval silver Venetian coin; a soldino of Doge Agostin Barbarigo (1486 - 1501) which has been gilded and had a silver loop soldered to the centre of the reverse to make the coin into a button or piece of jewellery. The figure of Christ is on the side designed to be seen.The soldini of early 16th century Venice were present in English currency in very large numbers. Known as 'galley-halfpence', they functioned as unofficial halfpenny substitutes, since official small change was in short supply. As English coin finds, such soldini are probably more common than the contemporary English issues of halfpennies. Their silver content was high - about 95% being the standard of the Venetian silver coinage. Despite their ubiquity, the English government opposed the use of soldini and launched a campaign to prohibit their import and chase them out of currency, with apparent success in the 1520s.There is doubt about when the coin was converted into an item of jewellery, since, in principle, this could have happened at any time between the 16th and 18th centuries, since there seem to be no parallels that permit a more precise dating of the ornamental addition. However, cautiously, it may seem likely that the conversion would have occurred reasonably close to the coin's period of English currency and could even have come about as a consequence of the official campaign against its use. Thus a date in the early decades of the 16th century would seem probable.Compare WMID-F4E937 (2007 T627) and SWYOR-6C8455.
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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