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French Jetons 1600's


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Hello all. I am looking to purchase 1600s French Jetons that depict UFOs. Does anybody have any? I have been looking for over a year to no avail.

 

If anybody has some, please post pictures. Will pay cash. Thanks- :ninja:

Ken Bressett has the first one I have "seen" on the net.

 

A French dealer had one in his listings and I emailed twice expressing a wish to purchase it.

 

My emails were apparently ignored because I did not receive even an acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

 

Good luck finding one!

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Hello all. I am looking to purchase 1600s French Jetons that depict UFOs. Does anybody have any? I have been looking for over a year to no avail.

 

If anybody has some, please post pictures. Will pay cash. Thanks- ;)

 

These are currently in unusually high demand....and all because a celestial shield has been seen by one or two cranks to be examples of `UFO's'.

 

Jean Elsen (Belgium) recently had a couple in his catalogue. I don't have one of the `shield' type but I do have a couple of examples of the UFO tracking station at Lyon in France if they would be of any use to you. I can let you have one for the princely sum of one arm, one leg, and one left testicle.....or some more suitable form of financial settlement :ninja:

 

943806.jpg

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"one left testicle"

 

... ouch...

 

and this sounds interesting..never knew that jetons had pictures of ufos on them. but the reasonable explanation is what Ian said "a celestial shield has been seen by one or two cranks to be examples of `UFO's'."

 

and btw nice jeton you got there Ian :ninja:

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"one left testicle"

 

... ouch...

 

and this sounds interesting..never knew that jetons had pictures of ufos on them. but the reasonable explanation is what Ian said "a celestial shield has been seen by one or two cranks to be examples of `UFO's'."

 

and btw nice jeton you got there Ian :ninja:

Here is a picture of Ken Bressett's jeton (believed made about 1680).

 

The Latin legend "OPPORTUNUS ADEST" translates as "It is here at an opportune time."

 

Whatever "it" is, is not entirely clear.

ufocoinfrontxs6.jpg

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Here is a picture of Ken Bressett's jeton (believed made about 1680).

 

The Latin legend "OPPORTUNUS ADEST" translates as "It is here at an opportune time."

 

Whatever "it" is, is not entirely clear.

 

 

Is Ken Bressett's available for sale? Not willing to give up the testicle, maybe some money will suffice.

 

Let me know thanks

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Ken bresset's example is a bit late on the chain of these `shield' type jetons.

 

For example here's one with the exact same design which predates Ken Bresset's example by some 24 years.

 

http://www.cgb.fr/monnaies/jetons/j18/gb/m...7&nbfic=725

 

Here's another from a different region of France showing the `shield' in action :ninja:

 

http://www.cgb.fr/monnaies/jetons/j17/imag....html?depart=21

 

"There are quite a few `out there' Skully" ;) .......but there's nothing `ufo' about any of them.

 

Ian

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I really hesitate to throw my example into the mix, but:

 

914445.jpg

 

I don't have much use for more testicles than I already have, but money is always useful. However, my jeton is not for sale today. The image is definitely a "celestial" shield. I'm not sure I could easily relocate a cgb image of one such shield leaning against a wall with some weapons illustrated on a spectacular jeton. It is in one of their auctions (not the jeton catalogs) and it went for something between $500 and $1000 if I remember right. It is a spectacular piece. I will post a link if I stumble across it again.

 

The opportune time refers to the battle of Troy when the gods threw down a "celestial shield" at an opportune time. That is a much too short reference to a much longer story. In any event, French symbolism drew heavily on the legends of Troy, etc. in the 1600s.

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  • 1 month later...

The shield represents the defense of Burgundy against the various armies running around France during the Fronde (nobles' revolt during the regency of the young Louis XIV). The orientation of the design --with the shield on the bottom, with arrows raining from the heavens-- is as presented on the cgb.fr site, but you could always convince someone that the motto around the edge has no clear start and finish, that the intended orientation isn't clear, and that the UFO should really be up in the air, with the poor French peasants shooting arrows at it. :ninja:

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  • 1 year later...

Immediately thought of this thread when I first saw this jeton. Just had to buy it! :ninja:

 

The jeton was issued for the town of Peronne in Picardie. I'm less than sure as to why it was issued but judging from the legend it seems to relate to recovery from defeat (?) Unless I am much mistaken, the allegorical figure of `Peronne' seems to be resting her left arm on a downed UFO. .........perhaps she swatted it with the palm leaves she has in her right hand?

 

967906.jpg

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It is a shield not a UFO...though UFO buffs will hear nothing of it:

 

As for the coin (it is a jeton), I think it is depicting the ancile, the sacred shield sent from the sky to King Numa by Jupiter. Please read the following from Plutarch's Lives, Volume I:

 

In the eighth year of Numa's reign an epidemic

raged throughout Italy, and afflicted the city of Rome. Now amidst the

general distress it is related that a brazen shield fell from heaven

into the hands of Numa. Upon this the king made an inspired speech,

which he had learned from Egeria and the Muses. The shield, he said,

came for the salvation of the city, and they must guard it, and make

eleven more like it, so that no thief could steal the one that fell from

heaven, because he could not tell which it was. Moreover the place and

the meadows round about it, where he was wont to converse with the

Muses, must be consecrated to them, and the well by which it was watered

must be pointed out as holy water to the vestal virgins, that they might

daily take some thence to purify and sprinkle their temple. The truth

of this is said to have been proved by the immediate cessation of the

plague. He bade workmen compete in imitating the shield, and, when all

others refused to attempt it, Veturius Mamurius, one of the best workmen

of the time, produced so admirable an imitation, and made all the

shields so exactly alike, that even Numa himself could not tell which

was the original. He next appointed the Salii to guard and keep them.

 

It was indeed OPPORTVNVS ADEST or 'here at an opportune time' as the shield saved the city from the plague.

 

A few shields depicted below that look similar:

 

shieldspike.jpg

 

Targe_3.jpgTarge_4.jpgTarge_1.jpg

 

 

There is considerable evidence throughout the continent of Europe to show that predominantly round shields made of leather, wood, or wicker, with metal fittings and a metal boss or umbo, were being used from the time of the Bronze Age. Within the Germanic countries particularly, round or slightly oval shields with metal reinforcements were being employed. A variation was made which combined the shield with a weapon of attack: a sharp iron or bronze spike protruding from the center,

 

Umbo: A boss applied to the center of a shield. Usually made of iron or bronze, the umbo was in use since very early times as a reinforcement and, when appropriately designed, as an offensive device to be used at close quarters. It was generally more or less hemispherical and often supported on a ring base or truncated cone, while many old examples were integrated with a spike protruding from the center. The umbo was secured to the shield by means of metal studs, often placed so as to form decorative motifs. It was sometimes heavily ornamented, especially on parade shields, with engravings and metal laminae molded to produced elaborate designs in relief which were then silvered or gilded. By the late Middle Ages, however, the umbo was gradually disappearing from the shield, but was still occasionally used as a decorative element.

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Very nice, I like all of the jeton but the three crowned 'P's are intriguing. The tree is surviving the battering, which is knocking the lower branches from it, like the town, it can take the losses and carry on. I would think either plague, war, famine, civil unrest or religious strife, I know you will come up with the answer, just do not forget to post it when you do. Great jeton :ninja:

 

The 3 'P's could represent Peronne, Picardie and the People, each with a crown symbolizing loyalty to the King.

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It is a shield not a UFO...though UFO buffs will hear nothing of it:

 

 

Or, maybe people got the idea for a good shield design from the many UFOs floating around? :ninja:

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