Coin Or Token Gold Or Bronze

A Jeton of Hans Laufer (probably)

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefa...rd/id/529446

Gold doesn't turn black over time. Brass does. Jetons, particularly the cheaper Nuremberg types, are made of brass.

Jetons are not "coins", nor even technically "tokens", since they were never intended to be used in trade or as money. There is, however, a financial link: one of the primary purposes of early jetons was to use them on a "counting-board", a device similar to an abacus only flat, which was helpful in doing complex mathematical sums (such as converting between the plethora of Europe's multitude of predecimal currency systems) back when "modern" numerals had not yet been invented and people still needed to use Roman numerals to count with.

Later jetons were used as money-substitutes for whatever purpose might have been necessary. For example, when many countries passed laws preventing gambling with playing cards, jetons were used to "gamble with" and keep things legal. This eventually led to the concept of "toy coins" and what we now consider to be the "normal" form of play money.