Rights Holder: Surrey County Council
CC License:
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Unique ID: SUR-9ACBB4
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
An extremely worn post Medieval silver sixpence of William III (1694-1702). The coin has been deliberately bent twice.
Notes:
Deliberately defaced coins with a double bend are sometimes referred to as 'love tokens' but are more correctly regarded as charms or pledges. They are not uncommon finds but their significance is not well understood. They were made using coins dating from the time of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to the reign of Ann (1702-1714) with some Georgian examples, but were particularly common in the reign of William III (1694-1702). While 'love tokens' should be inscribed with the name of the person loved most of these defaced coins are uninscribed. Bending coins as part of an oath is an ancient practice; Manville (2014) says of such bent coins: “A twice bent coin might be carried in the pocket or wallet as a protection against the ‘evil eye’ or other witchcraft, hence the crooked sixpence of the children’s rhyme. Other so-called lucky pocket pieces might be bent to distinguish them from normal coins and prevent inadvertent spending."
Recorded from details emailed by the finder.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1694
Date to: Circa AD 1702
Quantity: 1
Weight: 1.94 g
Diameter: 20 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 31st May 2022
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Primary material: Silver
Manufacture method: Milled
Completeness: Complete
Denomination: Sixpence
Ruler/issuer: William III of England
Category: Modern
Type: Sixpence: William III (S 3520 - 3548)
Obverse inscription: [...]MVS[...]
Reverse inscription: MAG[...]
Degree of wear: Extremely worn: poor
No coin references available.
4 Figure: SU6953
Four figure Latitude: 51.27198203
Four figure longitude: -1.01227635
1:25K map: SU6953
1:10K map: SU65SE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manville, H.E. | 2014 | Dictionary of English Numismatic Terms | London | Spink |