20 Questions! (Forum Game)

Great analysis and information Tdziemia. I like your recommendation about asking if the coin is in the catalog.

Yea, this is way out of my zone O_O

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I agree! And actually, while not everyone may have seen this coin before, I'm Actually really excited to have caused you guys to think a little bit.

9.


Yes!

We also need the coin to have a human figure (or part of one, which I assume means a bust) on it. I don;t know if that narrows down that list, but I think that's a good question to ask. I also know there is a long running type from Aachen that has a bust of Charlemagne on it, even though it was long after he was emperor. I don't know if it goes back before 1300, but if your list gets a no answer, we could ask that next..

Also for this part of the world, the human figure on the coin could be a saint. In the case of a coin like the florin, it always has a picture of St. John on the obverse (I think it's the obverse). There may be a long running type from Salzburg that has saint Rupert, and there was a Matthiasgroschen (Brunswick I think) with an image of St Matthias that was undated in the 1400s but dated started in the early 1500s.
But this just shows my problem of broadening the possibilities when the point of the game is to narrow them

Under 'Coin Types
In the Saurmasche Münzsammlung' we have:

Types- Human Arms and Hands

Arm
Praying Hands
Arm With Sword From Clouds
5 Hands
Hand

There are a total of 18 coins under these 5 types.

@jadey, before I answer your question I need to consult my Saurma. I'll answer this tonight. As with so many aspects of medieval coinage there may not be a simple yes/no answer and I want to make sure that I'm not leading you astray. Therefore, please hold off on more questions until I get this one swerved this evening. Thx!

There is the possibility that the coin held by @spence is the same type, but earlier than the example of that type shown in Saurma. For instance, all the groats bearing the bust of CHarlemagne in Saurma are dated, but maybe there is an earlier undated one, which is the coin in question.
It would be good to allow for more than a yes/no answer to cover this kind of possibility.

Recap:

1. Not minted in Asia
2. At least part of a human is represented on at least one side
3. Not minted after 1900
4. Minted in Europe
5. Not minted in England, France, Spain or Italy
6. Minted before 1800
7. Not minted between 1600 and 1699
8. Is listed in Saurma
9. Was minted some between 1300 and 1500
10. Was not issued directly by anyone on this list (as best I can tell, but for sure this coin isn't any of those linked):
a. Albrecht II (1258-1304) : Görz (counts)
b. Eberhard (1277-1308) : Mark (counts)
c. Friedrich I der Gebissene (1291-1324) : Sachsen-Meissen
d. Kasimir (-1312) : Beuthen (princes)
e. Otto II (zu Nienburg) (1290-1324) : Hoye (counts)
f. Rudolf I und Albrecht (1298-1356) : Sachsen-Wittenberg (lords)
g. Simon II (1275-1344) : Lippe (counts)
h. Wenzel II (1278-1305) : Böhmen (royal)
i. Charlemagne


The reason why I needed a little time today is that Saurma being written in 1892, estimates the date for these coins a little differently than more recent references. I know that I had been hinting that this coin was minted in the early part of the range AD 1300 to 1500 (and I still believe that to be true). However, in Saurma, it is listed as "OJ" (undated), but is listed in a section with some dated coins from the 1500s. I'm sorry that this may be confusing as 250 years seems like a pretty wide range for people to differ in their opinions, but there it is.

I feel bad that I have thrown y'all a bit of a red herring with the date and so will make sure that my hinting remains generous. The good news is there are still 10 more questions!