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JETTON
Unique ID: WILT-B69C78
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A fragment of a copper alloy 'Venus penny' stock jetton of the Low Countries, c.1490s-1550s, possibly Mitchiner 827.
The 'Venus pennies' were a popular series of jettons, or reckoning counters, that were made for the merchants of Antwerp during a period when this city was the flourishing principal commerical centre of the land, and were circulated amongst the merchant classes during the first half of the sixteenth century. The circulation in London, from finds along the Thames foreshore, is restricted to the general period from the 1480s to the 1550s. But the design of the figure of Venus is modelled on official jetons of Philip le Beau, or Philip I of Castile (1478-1506) from the 1490s.
Obverse description: Austro-Burgundian shield (1482-1555)
Reverse description: Woman, probably holding a spray of flowers
Only slightly less than a half of the jetton is extant. There is an old break, slightly to the left of the middle of the jetton. There is a hole in the ten o'clock position. On the obverse there is indecipherable text around the outer edge which Mitchiner describes as "fictitious". The reverse is badly worn and very little can be deciphered, though it can be seen that there is, again, some kind of text around the outer edge, and the draped figure of a woman.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1480
Date to: Circa AD 1550
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Weight: 1.06 g
Diameter: 31.1 mm
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: SSWM 4671
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Struck or hammered
Completeness: Complete
Jetton / token data
Class: Low Countries
Group: Venus penny
Type: (M824-851) - Unknown: c. 1490 - c. 1550
Denomination: Jetton
Obverse description: Austro-Burgundian shield (1482-1555)
Obverse inscription: Illegible
Reverse description: Woman with drapes (Venus)
Reverse inscription: Illegible
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Chilmark (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: ST9632
Four figure Latitude: 51.08730026
Four figure longitude: -2.05848758
1:25K map: ST9632
1:10K map: ST93SE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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