Coins In Art - Hans Memling 1480 Painting Of Man Holding Roman Nero Coin

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,036
willieboyd2 Pillar of the Community United States 525 Posts	Posted 01/24/2019 09:22 am I found a picture in an old art book which was a portrait of a man holding a coin. Hans Memling, Man Holding a Roman Coin, painted around 1480 A closeup of the coin: The coin has been identified as a sestertius of Nero struck in Lyons. The coin's obverse legend appears close to "NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP PP" and there are around ten coins in the Roman Imperial Coins catalog matching this one. The painting is in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp which produced the above public domain photograph https://www.brianrxm.com The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin Coins in Movies Coins on Television Report this Post to the Staff

tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7955 Posts	Posted 01/24/2019 4:06 pm Neat idea for a thread, and nice piece of art. Report this Post to the Staff
Squire Wilson Pillar of the Community Australia 653 Posts	Posted 01/24/2019 7:39 pm There is another painting showing coins. This is "The moneylender and his wife" by Quinten Massijs. See the Wikimedia Commons address at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...WGA14282.jpg Also https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...WGA14284.jpg for more detail. The coin near the top of the pile with the Fleur de Lis design appears to be a French Louis XI Ecu d'or. Squire Edited by Squire Wilson 01/24/2019 7:40 pm Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7955 Posts	Posted 01/26/2019 2:13 pm Here is a painting by the Flemish painter Frans Francken, who was active in the early 1600s (died 1641): I'm not sure I can positively identify anything here, but the object at lower left might depict Albert and Isabella, Duke and Duchess of Brabant 1598-1621 (a bronze medal of some sort?), and the other upright coin/medal nearer the center is almost certainly from the Papal States, possibly Paul III, as in this medal: Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7955 Posts	Posted 01/26/2019 2:23 pm Here is the image from SquireWilson's second link. I will build on his identification of the Louis XI French Ecu in the left foreground by guessing that the coin below it is the reverse of an earlier Ecu a la Chaise (France or Low Countries): ... and that the much larger coin behind the scale is a Lion d'or from the Low Countries. The painter has done an amazing job rendering accurate details for these coins. Edited by tdziemia 01/26/2019 2:48 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Squire Wilson Pillar of the Community Australia 653 Posts	Posted 01/26/2019 8:53 pm Thanks for your response tdziemia Apologies for not showing the image in my post. I was also very surprised by the incredible detail that the artist included in his painting. The result is not only a work of art but also a representation that offers valuable historical numismatic insight. So it appears that (some) moneychangers in Antwerp / Leuven used French coinage during the 16th century. Squire Report this Post to the Staff
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