GERMANY medal electrotype (1532)
$55.00
GERMANY, medal electrotype, no date (the original medal was from1532, this is probably 19th century), Obverse: a bracteate splash of the medal showing a facing bust, OTTO HENRICVS·D·GRA·Co·PA·RHE·INFE·SVPQZ·BAIO·DVX·ZC, silvered copper, 47mm, 6.51g, by Mathes Gebel, Habich I,2 1027, pl. 127,2, XF
1 in stock
Description
The Germans have been fans of round, flat, shiny objects since the 2nd century BC, when they made imitations of Greek coins. Coin manufacture was deeply decentralized until the 19th century, extending to jetons and medals starting in the 16th century. Local tokens began to supplement the normally chaotic coinage situation in the markets from the late 17th century. Production of tokens and medals boomed in the 19th century, and was going strong into the 1990s.
The word “exonumia” is used to describe all kinds of things that are “like” coins but are not coins. I wrote a blog post on that subject. Basic categories: 1. used like a coin but not issued by a national government, 2. looks like a coin but not made for spending, 3. other things that we are interested in.
