ITALY medallion no date (15-17th century maybe)
$45.00
ITALY, medallion, no date (15-17th century maybe), Obverse: female bust facing on left, male bust facing on right, their heads turned half towards each other, both in Roman garb, Reverse: blank and rough, bronze, 52mm, 103.8g, design and execution are very crude, F
1 in stock
Description
The crudity of this piece would seem to point to an earlier date rather than later. It is cast. The extremely high relief is unusual by itself. Who are those people supposed to be?
People alter coins for all kinds of reasons: jewelry, make them into pipe bowls or ash trays, art projects, etc.
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.
