How Far Back Can We Go? Fifth Edition! Ended At 1461 Waiting On 1460 C. E. (A. H. 864)

quite likely many collectors in the 19th and early 20st century had these tags

Here in Belgium a new day has started - and as I travel most of this Saturday, I take the liberty to post this 1585 jeton a bit earlier than as usual. It is my best jeton, not only because of the great way to convey important political developments of the year but also because the piece is so well conserved.

1585 Dugniolle 3044, van Loon I.362, Tas221 - Jeton from Dordrecht 'Capitulation of Antwerp and Nijmegen / Request for help from England

Obverse: Spanish soldiers feed a horse (Antwerp) and a donkey (Nijmegen)


Reverse: Queen Elizabeth gives a rose to the kneeling Dutch diplomats


This piece has a similar small handwritten tag as the jeton of 1586; both are related in subject.

The Fall of Antwerp in 1585 was one of the most significant events that contributed to the irreversible division of the 17 provinces of the Low Countries into a Southern part (Spanish Netherlands, today split into Belgium, Luxemburg and Northern France) and Northern 7 provinces (today The Netherlands). In 1585 the metropole of Antwerp a very important commercial and cultural center not only for the Low Countries but for the whole European region.

Alexander Farnese succeeded in capturing Antwerp by a complete siege, cutting off communication of the city with the rest of the world, meaning no supplies, no food. One of his most famous works was the construction of a ponton bridge blocking access of the port of Antwerp to the Scheldt and the North Sea: the base of the floating bridge was a series of 200 vessels chained together flank-by-flank, on which wooden platforms were nailed. This construction indeed prevented relief help into the city. Below a drawing of the pontoon bridge which was praised for its ingenuity and efficacy




The were attempts to destroy the bridge, but all failed. One was a huge wooden fort from the United Provinces built to shatter the bridge to pieces. This overambitious wooden monster called "Fin the la guerre" (the end of the war) was too heavy and never achieved its goal.



Relief forces in the polders of the Antwerp area did not break the iron grip of Farnese on the metropole.



On the 17th of August Filips van Marnix van Sint-Aldegonde, major of Antwerpen, signed for a surrender of the city. Many calvinists left the Spanish Netherlands for good to settle in the North, and it is generally accepted that this large scale emigration from South to North has contributed to the rapid rise of Amsterdam and other Dutch cities.

@1c5d, fantastic jeton, and great history. Safe travels.

@giljan, I think this Lithuanian trojak is Iger V.85.3.a(R3) the rarest subtype for Vilnius mint (it is missing the arrow on the symbol below the bust). Here is the most recent sale at WCN for refernce,https://wcn.pl/archive?q=trojak+V.85.3.a.

My earliest dated Italian coin is this 1585 giulio of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany with images on the reverse of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of florence (left), and St. Francis of Assissi, namesake of Grand Duke Francesco de Medici:

1585 -- Kingdom of Hungary, 1 denar:

1 / 20th philipsdaalder
1584
Duchy of Brabant,
Mint: Tournai (tower)
DOMINUS MIHI ADIUTOR
the lord is my helper
PHS.D.G.HISP.Z.REX.D.TORNA.
Philips dei gratia Hispaniæ rex dux Tornacensis
Philip, by the grace of god, king of Spain, duke of Tournai
Muntheer: Philips II (1555-1598)
ref: Van Gelder / Hoc 215-14
ref: Van Houdt 310-TO
ref: RN1218

@tdziemia and @spence, thanks!

wonderful 1585 giulio of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and splendid 1 franc, Henry III, 1584 !

On the 10th of July 1584, William of Orange was assassinated in his headquarters in Delft by Balthasar Gerardts a man hired by king Philip II of Spain to murder the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs. Below two jetons and one silver daalder that connects to this important moment in the story of the Dutch revolt



1584 Jeton Dordrecht 'assassination of William of Orange'
Dugniolle 2995, van Loon I 344, Tas208
Obverse: Balthasar Gerards salutes politely and then shoots William of Orange from small distance; behind the scene Philip II gives "instructions" (with a pointed gun an hand on his sword)
O DIRVM SCELVS NON MANEBIT INVLTVM / 1584
Reverse:Shepard between his sheep attacked by wolf
PATORVM OCCIDIT NE VOS CREDITE LVPO / CONFIDITE

1584 Jeton Dordrecht 'praise of the qualities of William of Orange'
Dugniolle 2997 (var); van Loon I347
Obverse: Portraits of William the Silent and Ulysses
DIOMEDIS ROBORE VLISSIS CONSILIO 1584
Reverse:
Seven arrows (the seven provinces) united into a strong bundle (one country)
on a strip AMOR PATRIA FIDES COIS FORTVNA
Legend VNA VALET PLVS IGNAVIS QVAM FORTIBVS OMNES (unity is worth more than all individual forces)



Prinsendaalder (Gehelmde Rijksdaalder) Dordrecht mint, province of Holland. This is the first year that these daalders bearing the portrait of William of Orange were minted. They would be produced posthumously for the next two decades in different dutch provinces.



Willem van Oranje is called the Vader des Vaderlands (father of the Netherlands); indeed he is seen even today ad the founder of the country we know today. The Dutch national anthem (called the Wilhelmus) was written by Marnix van Sint Aldegonde (the major of Antwerp see previous post) in his honor.

His departure created a vacuum that added to the chaos of who and how the Netherlands were ruled. Outstanding wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Silent

The chaos in the Low Countries was not diminished by the death in 1584 of another ruler, François d'Alençon, the duke of Anjou, who we will meet in this thread tomorrow. In this chaos the star of Alexander Farnese, the duke of Parma was rapidly rising, the next year (see 1585) he would take the metropole of Antwerp by a brilliant act of closing the Scheldt.

Again today such impressive contributions from our European colleagues before even our first cup of coffee!
I will point out on that nice French franc that Henry III is claiming the title "King of France and Poland" when Stefan Batory is already 7 years on the Polish throne!

Poland-Lithuania commonwealth, 1584 1 schilling (solidus) first year of operation of Malbork mint. Malbork was in former Prussian land, and still has the Prussian sword-wielding eagle reverse, and legend SOLIDVS TERRARVM PRVS. Just 8 years later, in the reign of Sigismund III, Malbork coins have the same reverse design as other Polish coins, and no reference to Prussia.

1584 -- Kingdom of Hungary, 1 denar:

1583 -- Kingdom of England, 6 pence: