A Continuing Thread ~ Post Your Tokens, Medals, Exonumia Acquisitions

fantastic translation TNG
a sad poem

the coin from Bar does not appear sad at all the pansies may do it

it is amazing how much a series of old tokens, purchased recently and together from a long standing collector (who did not like verdi-care) can change one's numismatic interest

I did not collect France/Germany, neither copper, neither tokens, until I ended up with this "new" series ; there are a few more (older than these) so I can continue posting if it makes sense in this thread

hoping I did not kill this thread with poor focus and lack of humor, I try with this other token, also bought recently

Below is pictured a jeton (like the previous one from Bar) made in the city of Brussels in the year 1538
although this piece has no date, the better known variant is described as Dugniole # 1357

the middle ages are still present on this copper piece, the battle between good and evil - saints and patrons intervening to protect society from disaster which was always around the corner in those times

OBV: Sainte Gudule, the patron saint of the city of Brussels, holding the lantern of light and harassed by evil who wants to steal the light. The legend explains this is a jeton:
IECT x POV x LES x RECEV x DE x LA x VILE x DE x BRVCEL

REV: shows a more familiar scene from Brussels coins over the centuries: Archangel Michael slaying the beast
the vivid expression in the two faces is of interest
the legend explains the role of the archangel
SANCTE x MICHAEL x ITERCED x PRO x NOBIS x

there are very few coins picturing sainte Gudule and this coin has a high rarity index




again there is a trace of copper oxide between the lettering of the legend
espectially for this coin I think that the green adds to the overall effect of the coin
so I am inclined to think that it in some cases like this piece it would be a pity when the oxide was cleaned away

Silver coins and copper tokens from the Spanish and Northern provinces of The Netherlands of the 16th century are my area of focus - explaining my ignorance associated with a high degree of nonsense in my previous posts in this thread

thanks TNG

happy to participate in this thread - mixing old and more recent stories may work indeed

I was writing while you posted your amazing story about the Red Baron
very interesting to read and well documented - connected to an extraordinary and well preserved medal

Charles Lindbergh


A $25,000 award for the first successful nonstop transatlantic flight specifically between New York City and Paris was attracting a number of well-known, highly experienced, and well-financed contenders in 1927, none of whom were successful.

World War I French flying ace Rene Fonck's Sikorsky S-35 crashed on takeoff from Roosevelt Field in New York.

U.S. Naval aviators Noel Davis and Stanton H. Wooster were killed at Langley Field, testing their Keystone Pathfinder.

French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli departed Paris in the Levasseur PL 8 seaplane L'Oiseau Blanc and they disappeared over the coast of Ireland.

American air racer Clarence D. Chamberlin and Arctic explorer Richard E. Byrd were also in the race but Lindberg beat them to it.

The "Spirit of St. Louis", fabric-covered, single-seat, single-engine "Ryan NYP" high-wing monoplane N-X-211 was designed jointly by Lindbergh and the Ryan's chief engineer Donald A. Hall.
Lindbergh took off from San Diego on May 10, 1927. He went first to St. Louis, then on to Roosevelt Field on New York's Long Island.
In the early morning of Friday, May 20, 1927, Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field across the Atlantic Ocean for Paris, France at 7:52 a.m.
His monoplane was loaded with 450 U.S. gallons of fuel that was strained repeatedly to avoid fuel line blockage. The fully loaded aircraft weighed 5,135 lbs and takeoff was hampered by a muddy, rain-soaked runway.
Over the next #8203;33 1#8260;2 hours, Lindbergh and the Spirit faced many challenges, which included skimming over storm clouds at 10,000 ft and wave tops at as low as 10 ft.
The aircraft fought icing, flew blind through fog for several hours, and Lindbergh navigated only by dead reckoning.
He was fortunate that the winds over the Atlantic cancelled each other out, giving him zero wind drift - and thus accurate navigation during the long flight over featureless ocean.
He landed at Le Bourget Aerodrome at 10:22 p.m. on Saturday, May 21.
The "Spirit of St. Louis" is on display at the National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.
I have seen it in person.

Lindbergh is also famous for "The Crime of the Century", the kidnapping of his twenty-month-old son Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. was abducted from his crib in the Lindbergh's rural home near the town of Hopewell on the evening of March 1, 1932.
A man who claimed to be the kidnapper picked up a cash ransom of $50,000 on April 2, part of which was in gold certificates, which were soon to be withdrawn from circulation and would therefore attract attention the bills' serial numbers were also recorded.
On May 12 the child's remains were found in woods not far from the Lindbergh home.
Richard Hauptmann, a 34-year-old German immigrant carpenter, was arrested near his home in the Bronx, New York, on September 19, 1934, after paying for gasoline with one of the ransom bills.
$13,760 of the ransom money and other evidence was found in his home.
Hauptmann went on trial for kidnapping, murder and extortion on January 2, 1935 in a circus-like atmosphere in Flemington, New Jersey.
He was convicted on February 13, sentenced to death, and electrocuted at Trenton State Prison on April 3, 1936.


Short, under 2 min on Yooo Tooob


Sometimes obscured by his fame of the flight and the kidnapping of his son are some other lesser known facts.
He invented a heart pump, "The glass model T pump" for use in heart surgeries and designed an aviators watch that improved navigation.

FDR accused Lindbergh of Nazi and anti Semitic affiliation.

Lindbergh led a double life and while he fathered six children with their mother Anne Morrow Lindbergh, he had 7 other children with three women overseas ( Germany and Bavaria ) born between 1958 and 1967.
This secret only became known after his death from cancer in 1974 in Maui Hawaii.

Yes, a nice looking medal and a wonderful accompanying write-up, as usual.

Also recently added to my small collection of tokens

a copper Jeton (1575) from the "bureau of finances" of King Philip II in Brussels. Like today in the EU, Brussels was political center of the 16th century Spanish Netherlands. In the bureau of finances the income and expenses of the government was calculated (using this type of copper jetons as calculating tools).

the REV makes this clear: GECTOIRS (jeton) POUR LE BUREAU DE FNAN(CES) DU ROY 1575



The OBV is far more interesting as it offers a window on the increasingly difficult political circumstances of that year:



an official is holding to a damaged pillar (one of the pillars of Gibraltar?) battered by the winds and the sea; the legend talks about perseverance CONSTANS IN ADVERSIS

Indeed, 1575 was a difficult year in the Netherlands. And not the first in a most turbulent time.

In 1572, on April 1 the Seabeggars had started the second Dutch Revolt against Spain by taking the small town of Brielle in Holland by surprise. The cause for the uprise was too heavy taxation imposed Alva, the "iron" duke of Toledo, who ruled over the Netherlands in name of the king.

Other Dutch cities followed in the uprising. Alva responded by marching with a formidable army, the best of the world in those days, to the Northern provinces. But some of the (numerous) Dutch cities were hard to conquer. The famous siege of Haarlem (1572-73) cost many lives on both sides. And the following year the sieges of Alkmaar and Leiden (May - Oct 1574) failed. The drawing below from Frans Hogenberg shows how admiral Boisot, commander of the Prince of Orange, relieved the city on oct 3/4 of 1574. The typical Dutch strategy is inundation, breaking some dikes that normally hold back the sea.

(https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/colle...B-78.784-132)


In 1575 financial supplies into the Spanish treasury dried out, so that the enormous cost of the war effort could not be supported. Spanish soldiers received no wages for several months. This resulted in a very tense situation and after the successful siege of Zierikzee (Autumn 1575), the Spanish troops started with mutiny and the army disintegrated into bands that moved towards the South, where they started to plunder and loot.

siege of Zierikzee in the province of Zeeland


This led to the infamous massacre of Antwerp in 1576 and the Pacification of Ghent, the third revolt of the Netherlands in 10 years time. The outcome of this was the final split between the Northern and Southern States of The Netherlands, the formed becoming the United States of the Dutch Republic, the latter remaining Spanish Netherlands, today Belgium and French Flanders.

The year 1575, was a decisive year for the outcome of the revolt. It became a turning point after which the Spanish army never would occupy Holland again. THe rebellious North had "invented" new ways to finance the war, like the counterstamps on circulating silver coins (I have shown several in other threads and the strike of the Dordrecht Leeuwendaalder (Lion Dollar) which is my main area of interest (see this page http://goccf.com/t/277302&whichpage=264#2675754 in the ongoing thread to back in time.

The Dutch Revolt is an interesting historical case about which excellent works have appeared (my favorite book about the subject is from Geoffrey Parker). The outcome has changed history of modern times and it is believed that this revolt of in the 16th century has influenced the revolts in France and the US about two centuries later.

I bought this item from a coin dealer for $15 at a local coin show:

The Lost Dutchman Mine octagonal medal
Obverse: Miner with pan, LOST DUTCHMAN, 1860
Reverse: Rattlesnake, LOST DUTCHMAN MINES, FIFTY DOLLARS
Bronze, 38mm, Octagonal, 34.38gm

The dealer told me a story about the medal which I also found on an internet sales platform:

Up for bid or sale is a limited edition "Gunsmoke" octagonal medal only 500 struck.
Antiqued bronze and larger and heavier than a silver dollar.
You are only bidding on one medal
These have sold for up to $200 to Gunsmoke fans. Used in the 1965-1966 season 29 episode 406 "The Treasure of John Walking Fox" played by Leonard Nimoy.
Nimoy spends 2 of the slugs in Dodge City and the rest of the show is devoted to tracking him down so the location of the Lost Dutchman Mine can be found.
A must have for the "Gunsmoke fan" or an octagonal collector
**please don't make me offers below my starting bid !**

I later obtained a DVD of the Gunsmoke episode and the seller's story turned out not to be true.

The Gunsmoke episode used a different medal (a California Gold Rush centennial medal) and did not mention the "Lost Dutchman Mine".

Willie, that story alone was worth 15 bucks! You had me goin.
Live long and prosper.


late edit:

I am not finding any others like it tho at this time so it may not have been such a bad buy.