How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition! Ended At 1380 Waiting On 1379

thanks jbuck

great 1587 silver pieces from Kremnitz and Navarra/Bearn today

1587 France 1/8 Ecu - Henri III

@1c5, when I think about the imagery associated with a stork, I think childbirth (the stork delivering new babies). Is that the case with your last Jeton, or is it something else? Also, I assume that the "LABORE" part of the inscription means working the fields rather than the effort required to give birth, but could it be a double-entendre? Maybe I'm reading too much into it.



Here is a uniface Zweier (2 Pfennig) from the Austrian State of Salzburg:

Spectacular Leicesterreal!

(and I love the balancing stork, though not quite to the same extent numismatically)

To the east, Sigismund has not yet been envisioned as a possible king, but we have Stefan Bathory on the throne, a Transylvania prince who married Anna Jagiellon in 1576, last in the previous Polish-Lithuanian reigning family (so we might see him here for a week and a half).
Here is a 1586 trojak struck in Riga

I think that's right. I get the impression he was not terribly vain. Those 1586 Riga trojaks must have been minted in high quantities; they are not all that expensive for a 440 year old type.
Same king different mint and engraver (Poznan) for 1585 (photos courtesy of D. Marciniak aucion house):

1585

Like in 1588, the most important event of the present year took place in August, when the metropole Antwerp surrendered, after more than a year of siege, to the army of Flanders led by Alexander Farnese. The city was well defended by strong walls and the defence was supported by the courage of its citizens and the leadership of Filips van Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde who also was chief adviser of William of Orange during the first 15 years of the war. However, Farnese succeeded in completely sealing off the city from outside supplies and support, and under such cicumstances it is only a matter of time, surrender being sure. The most impressive part of the enclosure of Antwerp was a pontoon brigde closing the Scheldt river close to Antwerp (see woodcut print below), prevening any ouside help from the Dutch rebels to the starving city



When every attempt of the Dutch rebels to blow up or burn the pontoon failed, Antwerp had to surrender. The agreement for the surrender was that all protestants should leave the city within two years and they were allowed to do so unharmed. We'll see the coming weeks examples of much less merciful conditions of surrender.

The massive exodus from citizens of Antwerp to the north (and the blockade of the downstream Scheldt for 2 centuries by the Dutch) created both the economic decline of Antwerp and the rise of Amsterdam which was not the most important town of Holland before 1585.

Below a half daalder from Antwerp under siege. This 'Robustus' half daalder is unlike regular siege money (these were square or lozenge shaped and stamped on one side only). This half daalder shows the coat of arms of Brabant on one face and the bravery of the defending citizens on the other. The legend CONFORTARE ET ESTO ROBVSTVS (have comfort and be strong) gave piece of silver its name.



The jeton of today also memorizes the fall of Antwerp (together with the city of Nijmegen south of the Waal river) as seen from the side of the Dutch rebels. The obverse shows Spanish masters that muzzle a donkey (Nijmegen) and a horse (Antwerp). The reverse alludes to the aid given by Elizabeth I of England to the rebels of the Dutch republic. The fall of Antwerp and the assassination of William of Orange the year before, made the cause of the revolt against Spain most precarious. Clearly, help from England (and France) was needed to win the war. We see the sympathy of the queen for the Dutch cause. This sympathy was officialized by the treaty of Nonsuch; the military aid that followed has very likely stimulated Phillipe II for his plan to build an Armada (see 1588).



Dugniolle 3044 Dordrecht 'Surrender of Antwerp and Nijmegen//treaty of Nonsuch'
OBV: Two Spanish soldiers put a muzzle on a horse (Antwerpen) the donkey (Nijmegen) already has a muzzle SPRETA AMBROSIA VESCITOR FENO (ambrose removed - now you'll eat hay) 1585
REV: Queen Elizabeth gives roses to Dutch nobles MACTE ANIMI ROSA NECTARE IMBVTA (let your mind be influenced by nectar of roses)

This is one of the most iconic propaganda jetons of the 80-year war with nectar and ambrose in the legends. It became immediately a collectors item, so quite a few survving pieces are well preserved.

I appreciate all the dramatic moments out of history that you present, 1c5d7n5m!

France 1584, 1 franc, Henry III, Toulouse (M).



In 1578, Henry III reformed the French monetary system and introduced the ecu and franc as denominations with fixed values of 60 respectively 20 sous tournois. 1 and ½ ecus were gold coins and 1 franc (= 1/3 ecu) was the largest silver coin (the largest coin, in fact, with its 35 mm diameter). The reform lasted until 1602, then Henry IV decided to go back to the more flexible (for the crown) system of assigning values to ecus and francs, that is, declare them worth as many sous as he saw fit at any given time.