CoininPhrases Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 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- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grivna1726 Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 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- 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roaddevil Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 "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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grivna1726 Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 "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 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoininPhrases Posted March 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grivna1726 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 Is Ken Bressett's available for sale? Not willing to give up the testicle, maybe some money will suffice. Let me know thanks You'd have to ask him. I don't know what his plans are for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 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 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 I really hesitate to throw my example into the mix, but: 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 I just couldn't resist -- I'm putting this coin up for sale on FleaBay. Calling all UFO buffs. This jeton now for sale on eBay: UFO shield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 That is a nifty UFO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grivna1726 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 "Take me to your leader. I come in peace." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiho Posted May 15, 2008 Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 "Take me to your leader. I come in peace." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Immediately thought of this thread when I first saw this jeton. Just had to buy it! 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Beautiful jeton, Ian. And yes, you can see on the reverse that the UFO was knocking branches off trees before Peronne swatted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drusus Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 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: 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 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 The 3 'P's could represent Peronne, Picardie and the People, each with a crown symbolizing loyalty to the King. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Or, maybe people got the idea for a good shield design from the many UFOs floating around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumisMattic2200 Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 A celestial shield? ah..pull the other one! I'd swear I saw a UFO Seriously though, a great post, very interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drusus Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Or, maybe people got the idea for a good shield design from the many UFOs floating around? It seems so obvious now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoininPhrases Posted December 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 still looking for one of these coins anybody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 found another Peronne jeton dated 1656 but different reverse design, and in copper. Looks like the King and his army are out UFO hunting........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 Beautiful piece, Ian. I love the three "P's" for Peronne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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