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Copper Jeton - Æ 20 mm - 4 grams - Flipside same way up. |
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1. |
DER ANCKER WACHT - DAS GLICK LACHT (Der Ancker Wacht, Das Glick Lacht - The Anchor is guards,
Luck smiles (at us)). Standing Anchor with wings on both sides, through it all grows a vine (?)
with in the hart of the anchor a small shield. |
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2. |
LUD XVI D G FR ET NAV REX (Ludovicus Decimus-sextus Dei Gratiâ Franciœ et Navarrae Rex - Louis
16th by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre). King facing rightwards, nose seems
somewhat upturned, looks young. Louis XVIth reigned from 1774 - 1792. |
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2.b |
An example of 1791 is known where not only the king looks older as in mine but has an “L” for
exergue. (L = Lauer (the minter)). |
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| A jeton is the French word for "token". Jetons saw duty as emergency money, store cards or
"good fors" and counters. As late as the 19th century many parts of Europe still were
counting in Roman Numerals. ( Try multiplying XVII x XVI ). The jetons made math easier by
allowing counting similar to that of an abacus but laid on cloth or paper. Moving the jetons
around allowed a merchant or trader to determine how much was owed or how much to give in
change. |
