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To participate in the forum you must log in or register. | Author |
 Replies: 8 / Views: 3,153 |
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New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Hello We are hoping for some help with identifying what we think is a coin set in a Signet ring. My grandmother has recently died and I have inherited a antique box which has been in the family for 250 years. It has been quite exiting as within the box there have been a number of unusual items which we have been able to trace back to different historic family members within my family from the 1800's the only item we have not been able to identify is the Signet ring. Although we have all been searching we have not yet found a place to start to try and work out what coin is set in the ring (country of origin would be a start). Please note as the coin is set we cannot see the reverse. Whereas it is possible the ring is not a antique and has simply been put in the box it seems quite likely it is as the box seems to have been used to collect items of sentimental value for the family over a large amount of time. I have attached an image of the top of the ring which we are hoping will be sufficient to identify the coin set in it. If we can identify the coin, its potential age and where it has come from,due to the fact our family history is very well documented we might be able to identify which family member it originally belonged to. Hopefully someone on the forum might be able to help with some information My thanks to anyone who helps in advance Regards  |
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
 to the Community! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1057 Posts |
Lots to work with here, BobbyWattsit, and a solid challenge! The likelihood is that what you've got is a medallic issue rather than a coin, or something produced solely for use in jewelry. Even with one one side showing, we'd expect to see a date, a denomination, or an "effigy," meaning an image of the ruler in whose name the money was issued, since all of that hardly ever appeared all on one side of a (European) coin. I can't swear to it, but try digging around Edenkoben, which was part of the Electorate of the Palatinate in the good old Holy Roman Empire. The crowned heart of Christ was my main clue toward the HRE, but the crest has other stuff going on. Perhaps a true linguist (as opposed to me, who's only studied a few languages) could make more sense out of that unusual (possibly spurious?) Germanic-Latinate legend. Maybe you can connect a Frederick or Friederich to the Palatinate? "Judicii" is judgment...this piece could conceivably commemorate an event, like the "Judgment of Edenkoben," whatever that might be. By the time this piece was produced, or the time it was meant to represent or symbolize, the Empire itself wasn't issuing any coinage, as the HRE by then was an agglomeration of duchies, principalities, counties, city-states, and villages all over Germany, the Habsburg Empire, the Austro-Hungarian world, etc. Good background here: https://coinweek.com/world-coins/la...oman-empire/Maybe also do some poking around here to pick up something from that elaborate coat of arms: http://heraldry-wiki.com. Focus on the Palatinate Electorate for starters, though...the legend points us right there, and possibly close to Bavaria, as might be indicated by the diamond shield inside the arms. On the other hand, the whole thing could be a total confection, created by a jeweler in Brooklyn for use on 20th-century signet rings only. Keep us posted, okay? Best of luck with it --- Tom
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
Edited by daltonista
10/02/2020 7:13 pm
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New Member
 United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. There is a lot the to start looking at.
Clearly this is not going to be as straight forward as I hoped.
And yes I will post of I identify what it is
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1057 Posts |
Obviously I have too much time on my hands. Maybe start at Wikipedia? 
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
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Pillar of the Community
 Sweden
2124 Posts |
I think you are definitely on the right track, @daltonista. I don't know how you figured out Edenkoben from Oedickobin, but it makes sense. Edenkoben seems to have had a number of different spellings (and pronunciations I suppose): Othingower, Oedighoven, Oedencovien I have found on the Internet. Plus that the shield with an E inscribed in an O is the crest of Edenkoben.  That and your find of the match for the coat of arms for the House of Wittelsbach led me on to the House of Palatinate-Simmern, a cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Their coat of arms matches what is shown on the signet ring. In the House of Palatinate-Simmern, we have duke Frederick III, elector of the Holy Roman Empire, who in 1560 forced reformation onto Edenkoben, closing its monasteries and turning its churches into protestant ones. Sort of a judgment, as suspected by @daltonista. So, based on this, I can make a guess at what the inscription says. Spelling out the Latin it becomes Serenissimus ELECTor FRIDERICI PALatinatus A (Ad?) IVDICII IN OEDICKOBIN. Translated that becomes Most Serene Elector Frederick of the Palatinate, (for) the judgment of Edenkoben. Someone more knowledgeable in Latin is welcome to improve  So it is a commemoration of Frederick III's reformation of Edenkoben in 1560. The ring, or what is mounted in it, is not from 1560, though. I would say 20th, possibly late 19th century. Still a guess, but one that makes sense at some level. Is this something that befits what you would expect to find in a box belonging to your grandmother, @BobbyWattsit? Edited by erafjel
10/03/2020 1:43 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1057 Posts |
Damn, we're good, erafjel!
My secret weapon: four years each of Latin and Greek, five of French, and an undergraduate "concentration" in linguistics. I'm sorta like the mechanic who fixes your car in two minutes and charges you 350 Euros. When you complain about how that seems awfully expensive for so little time, he reminds you that you're also paying for the thirty years of experience that enabled him to diagnose the problem!
I must confess, however, that without your obvious familiarity with the conventions and contractions of the crypto-Latinate numismatic legends of the period, or your facility with the appropriate research resources, there's no way I'd ever have drawn the honorific "serenissimus" out of that "S" in front of Fred's name! That's impressive!
So thanks to our tireless efforts, now is the moment when BobbyWattsit begins to realize that he's next in line for the throne and demesne of Wittelsbach, right?
Wash your hands, everybody!
Tom
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
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New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Everyone thank you for the effort that has been put in for me.
Considering I spent a great deal of fruitless hours trying to get an understanding of this item (particularly as Google does not help translation of any of the words) before joining the forum I am very grateful. Particularly as what has been said makes complete sense.
The box the item was in came from 1800 and we have identified a number of people it belonged to between 1800 and now.
If as stated this item might be late 19 or early 20th century then considering who we know have owned the box or would be quite possible to have belonged to my great grandfather. He was in the clergy however I do not know what possible link there would be to the ring. I will now start looking through our family history to see if there is anything there that night give a clue.
I have to say I had not realised how interesting some of this can be, particularly when it forms part of my own family history.
My thanks to everyone.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1057 Posts |
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
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Replies: 8 / Views: 3,153 |
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Posted 10/02/2020 6:35 pm
