eBay

tdziemianowicz · ‎12-14-2014

I thought I would make this topic a bit more visible .... This previous thread morphed into a thread on finding images of Christian saints on coins:

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Coins-Paper-Money/Question-of-Variety-Authenticity-for-Medieval-Italian...

For those with an interest in the designs of medieval and Renaissance era European coins, you may enjoy browsing through it.

In the spirit of some other threads, there is also a running list, which (after some rearrangement) looks like this, and the encouragement of readers to add to it!:

1. Mary as Madonna - Hungary Ducats starting 16th c., Bavaria thalers 1770s, Nuremburg notgeld

Annunciation - Naples Charles II salute d'argento 15th c.

Mary is also shown "crowning" byzantine soverigns on some gold coins of the 11-12thc.

2. Michael the Archangel - Brabant esterlin 1267-94, England Edward IV gold angel, Vatican City 50 c. 1929-41, Zeitz notgeld

3. John the Baptist - Gold florins of Florence, France (Orange, Avignon), northern Germany 13-15th c., Testons of Florence.

4. Mary Magdalen - Papal States - Ancona teston 1582

Apostles/Evangelists:

5. St. Peter - Many papal states/Vatican City issues; Brabant gros, 14th c.

6. St. Andrew - Brunswick-Lunenburg thalers and fractions of 16th-17th c., Brabant florin Charles the Bold

7. Ss. James & John - Pesar mezzo paolo 1538-74

8. St. Thomas - Portuguese India Joao III (1521-57) gold

9. St. Mark - Venice grosso of 13-15th c. (and later Venice coins)

10. St. Matthew - Papal States piastre 1676

11. St. Paul - Munster 3 and 6 pfennig 1750s to 1770s; Papal States many issues including grosso of Benedict XIV (1740s) and Vatican City 20 centesimo of 1930s

Early Martyrs:

12. St. Stephen - Metz gros of 14-15thc and thalers of 17th, Halberstadt bracteates of 12-13th c. and thalers of 16-17th c.

13. St. George - (Antioch 1112-19; England/Gr Britain Noble Henry VIII, Crown, Sovereign 1817-; Bank of Canada token 1852, Ferrara grossone Ercole I 1471-1505; Mansfeld-Eisleben 1/3 Thaler 1671; Friedberg Thaler 1766

14. St. Alban - trade ducat, priory of St. Albans (Mains) 1712-1786

15. St. Antoninus - Borgotaro teston 1520s, Parma teston of 1622-46

16. St. Vitalis - Parma teston 1646-94

17. St. Ursus - Solothurn duplone 1797

18. St. Benigno - Abbey of Montanaro teston 1529-43

Others (many are medieval bishops who spread the faith, founded monateries, abbeys, founded religious orders ..)

19. St. Nicholas - Lorraine (Florin, 1608-24)

20. St. Killian - Wurzburg (Thaler 1685)

21. St. Patrick - Dublin tokens 1660s

22. St. Demetrius - Byzantine nomisma, 1080s

23. St. Theodore - Byzantine trachy, 1143-80

24. St. Martin - Lucca Scudo 1733, Bingen and Aschaffenburg notgeld

25. St. Ambrose - Milan Grosso 1395-1402

26. St. Vitus - Corvey 24 Mariengroschen 1753

27. St. Willibald - Eichstatt 5 Kreuzer 1750s

28. St. Romuald - Papl States

29. St. Stephan - Hungary 5 Pengo 1938

30. Ss Cyril & Methodius - Bulgaria 5 Leva, Slovakia 20 korun 1941

31. St. Maximinus - Trier notgeld issues 1920

32. St. Moritz - Magdeburg 1/24 Thaler 1607

33. St. Liborius - Paderborn Thaler 1620, 1786

34. St. Marinus - St. Marino 20 lire 1931-

35. St. Ludger - Werden & Helmstedt Thaler 1745; Werden notgeld

36. St. Hildegard - Kempten 1 & 2 kreuzer 1620s

37. St. Pope John XXIII - Cook Is. 2014

38. St. Pope John Paul II - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Poland 2014

39. St. Gertrude - Wattenscheid notgeld

40. St. Gotthard - Gotha notgeld

41. St. Pancras - Iserlohn notgeld

42. St. Patroclus - Soest notgeld

elheron-grande · ‎04-13-2015

Hola Gac: the face image shown in your 'link' does look a lot like the image seen on

the copper coin of Lucca 1557 [as seen on an eBay listing. Perhaps still current?].

Interesting art-work. Regardvs,

xx

tdziemianowicz · ‎04-14-2015

Gold scudo of Lucca from the same period (16th c.) as the quattrino:

elheron-grande · ‎04-28-2015

Hola TDZ: your post of 14 April 2015 1831: The image of Cristo on the gold coin is very

close to the image on the Copper Lucca coin. Verrrry close! Well done!

New coin addition, possibly: Speaking of Saints depicted on coins here is another minor

coin with San Martin depicted. Also legend Sanctus Martins. It is Kanton Uri 1 Schilling

dated 1624. Found this whilst searching Schweizer

Kantons for potential acquisitions. Apparently there is a tomb for San Martin somewhere

in Kanton Uri. An interesting bit of history in Kanton Uri. And a coin soon to be an 'addition'

to the accumulation of a large heron...! ha! Regardus,

xx

tdziemianowicz · ‎04-28-2015

Congratulations on combining a saint with (I assume) a new Swiss canton.

I have St. Martin on a notgeld piece from Bingen. From time to time I check auctions for a larger St. Martin on a Lucca coin, but thave not yet been lucky enough to find one at a (cheep) price I am willing to pay

I have found some nice St. Matthews in an upcoming auction.

tdziemianowicz · ‎04-28-2015

As luck would have it, the supply of saints images on coins is nearly inexhaustible.

But not so much for women saints, other than Mary.

For those from California, Santa Barbara is depicted on a coin of Mantova from the mid-17th century. The origin of her cult is uncertain (traced as far back as the 9th century in the eastern Mediterranean). Legend has it that she lived in either Nicomedea (Turkey) or Phoenicia (Lebanon) in the 3d century, and converted to Christianity against her father's wishes, who then turned her in to the authoriites, who had her executed. Being a martyr, she holds a palm in her depictions.

Why she appears on the coinage of Mantova is anyone's guess. The chapel of the Gonzagas ducal palace has a church dedictaed to her, dating from the mid 1500s. Perhaps one of the Gonzaga dukes had a wife named Barbara?

elheron-grande · ‎04-28-2015

Hola TDZ: A very interesting coin is that Mantova Santa Barbara coin. Interesting to

Heron because he has been in Santa Barbara California many times. He always

thought about the name of that city but never researched it. Thanks for that info.

Here is some Saints info that Heron has compiled over the past several months.

This list shows names of cities & towns mostly. Also some geographic places of

California that are named after Saints. Heron has been in most of these places.

Not all, but a good 90%+. Perhaps someday we will see some coins with some of

these little known names. Such as San Ardo!

California Cities & Towns:

San Ysidro.

San Diego.

San Clemente.

San Juan de Capistrano.

Santa Ana.

San Gabriel.

San Pedro.

San Fernando.

San Bernardino.

Santa Barbara.

Santa Maria.

San Luis Obispo.

San Ardo.

San Benito.

San Juan Bautista.

Santa Cruz.

San Jose.

Santa Clara.

San Mateo.

San Bruno.

San Pablo.

San Francisco de Asis.

San Ramon.

San Rafael.

Santa Ynez.

San Andreas.

San Simeon.

San Joaquin.

Santa Rosa.

San Quentin.

San Marino.

Santa Clarita.

Santa Monica.

Santa Paula.

Places:

Mission San Miguel Arcangel.

Santa Lucia Range.

San Luis Reservoir.

Cape San Martin.

Some of the 'Missions' are also names of the near by city or town.

Some day Heron will research all of these names. Some day!

And yes, Heron has been in San Ardo, California. There was a nice diner

there plus a gasoline esstation. A good place to stop...! San Ardo population

in 2010 was 517 folks. Perhaps a few thousand oil rigs! Another one a the

small towns hidden away in the remote areas of California.

Heron has another list of places named after Saints. That list is for the other

49 states of the USofA. Places such as St. Louis MO, Saint Augustine FL.

When we start to list all of these places it will perhaps be surprising to some

folks. And yes, we should add San Angelo TX.... Regards,

xx

tdziemianowicz · ‎04-29-2015

elheron,

That lost gives ample reason for ANY California numismatist with an interest in world coins to start a saints collection!

We have covered many of those saints in this thread: Santa Barbara, San Clemente (Clement, for whom a Vatican coin was posted back in Feb), San Marino on the predecessor thread, and the ubiquitous Pedro and Pablo.

If Benito is the same as Benigno, than even he has been found on a coin!

Though indeed, Ysidro, Lucia, and may of the others are completely new.

It raises the question of why none of the saints we have found on coins have been on Spanish coins? Certainly the Spaniards of the medieval/renaaissance/baroque period were no less devout than the Italians or Germans. Perhaps because (like France) they consolidated earlier into kingdoms, there was less opportunity for the many patron saints we see on HRE and Italian city states?

Quien sabe.

elheron-grande · ‎04-29-2015

Hola TDZ: your post of 29 April 2015 0326: This morning Heron turned over his 'list' of Cal

towns & cities named after saints and found 2 additional. City of San Leandro and Isla de

Catalina. Don't know how those were 'missed'. San Leandro had some nice restaurantes

along the SF Bay plus the San Leandro Marina where el Heron enjoyed lonches and the

view many times. Catalina Island was a great fishing area in the 1960s. Went there often.

Anyhow, Heron did some research on San Ysidro and found no coins with images of Saint

Isidore. That is coins currently listed for sale. And yes, the Sanctus Martins coin of Uri Kanton

should arrive here in a week or two. Heron never 'counts' these until they are actually

physically 'here'...! Never know where they might eventually land.

Your question re Spanish coinage and design is a good one. Heron does not know the

answer to that. Heron has some theories about the coin design situation. It could be

possible that Spain wanted to emphasize their place as a 'world power' and kept the same

basic designs for many decades in order to create an image of continuity. This is an opinion.

[About 25 years pasado Heron researched the number of Spanish Ocho Reales minted.

The number was very high and perhaps close to 100 Million minted. This would have

included all of the 'mints' operating in the Americas. Perhaps the Spanish were trying to

emulate the Brits and Franks, as you mention in your post? Quien sabe indeed?. Heron

never was an in depth collector of Spanish coins. Mainly interested in the colonial issues

and of course those neat coins issued during the Napoleonic wars... Tarragona, Barcelona,

Catalonia, etc] Every time we discuss coins there are more questions created! Ha!

It never ends...! A great hobby por seguro! Regardus,

xx

elheron-grande · ‎05-09-2015

Hola TDZ: Heron has indeed received a Sankt Martin coin... It is a 1 Schilling coin

of Kanton Schwyz and dated 1624.

Obverse: At center is the double headed eagle of the HRE [and Habsburgeren].

Legend surrounding center is "MON: SVITENSIS" ..

Below eagle is this date "16 [shield outline with very small Swiss 'cross' within] 24".

Reverse: Sankt Martin bust facing front.

Legend "Sankt Martin".

This coin is 20mm dia and round. Well, mostly round. It is Billon.

Another Saint coin for Herons HRE accumulation... great fun is this hobby!

Regardus,

xx

agathetyche · ‎05-10-2015

There is a patron saint for numismatists....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Eligius

No coins showing St. Eligius, but there are several French medals honoring him.

tdziemianowicz · ‎06-06-2015

@agathetyche wrote:
There is a patron saint for numismatists....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Eligius

No coins showing St. Eligius, but there are several French medals honoring him.

Thanks for the ST. Eiligius contribution!

It seems that lots of nice Papal States coins are up at auction this year, and hence an interesting crop of not-yet-accounted for saints.

Linking to elheron's theme of California place names, here is the first San Bruno I have seen, on a Papal States teston from the reign of Alexander VIII (1689-91). He (Bruno) was born in Cologne around 1030 A.D., and founded the Carthusian monastic order, hence his monk's attire.