A rose by any other name ........

[GDJMSP]

Back before the first of the year I placed a bid in a Mail Bid sale. The seller had pics, but they were far from being good ones. But based on the pics they did have, I decided to take a chance. For it appeared to me that there was a gem hidden in those poor pics just waiting to be discovered. So I placed a bid at 70% of estimate. I didn't hold out a lot of hope for winning - but I did

 

Here is the seller's pic -

 

[GDJMSP]

Now - here is what I discovered when the coin arrived !

 

 

 

 

I was overjoyed

 

Here was a coin just bursting with luster and barely a mark on it. I found the detail and quality of strike amazing. The coin is, in my eyes, sheer beauty ! The coin gods surely smiled upon me that day

[Hoot]

GDJMSP - Congratulations on a wonderful find! The photos are like night and day, the first looking like the coin may have endured some harsh chemicals over time. Your photo depicts a very different reality.

 

Now, tell us about the coin!

 

Hoot

[GDJMSP]

The coin is a Rose Noble struck in the Netherlands at the Gorinchem mint 1583-85. The design of the coin was copied from the Rose Noble or Ryal struck by Edward IV of England which was issued from 1464 to 1470. The Rose Noble was struck and issued by nearly all of the mints of the Netherlands' provinces.

 

Most of the others can easily be told apart from the English coin - but this one is quite close to the original design. In fact, many of them have been misattributed by highly respected firms and sold as English coins. It's easy to understand why for the only differences are minor variations in the legends. And the English coins themselves have a great many legend variations.

 

Some ask the question - why would the Netherlands copy an English coin design from 100 yrs previous ? The answer is not hard to understand if you understand the history of the time.

 

The 7 northern provinces, only a few years before in 1579, had declared their independence from Spanish rule. Because of this they needed a coinage of their own. But because they were a new nation and not yet recognized as such, they also needed a strong patron.

 

Now at the time, the Netherlands was the virtual center of European trade, in particular textiles. And England was the largest importer of their product. England was also the enemy of Spain. So it was the hope of this fledgling nation, that by copying an old coinage design of their largest trade customer that they would incur further favor from the English throne, and possibly future protection from the Spanish.

 

So as you can see, even in the day of yesteryear, politics played a major part in the design of coinage - much as it still does today.

[Hoot]

Superb history! I simply can't get over the complexity of the design, yet it's aesthetically pleasing. Again, congratulations!

 

Hoot