I've done some searches and come up close but no cigar.



Real, counterfiet or what?

It's real, and made circa 1696 by Lazarus Gotleib Lauffer in Nurenburg Germany (L.G.L. below Louis XIV bust) although i'm not sure for which French department of state it was made for (as yet!.....probably the War Department thoough).

The legend `armis nunc tota' can be translated to mean different things but basically it is saying `we have what we have because of our brave armies being always at the ready to defend us'.....you get the sentiment (which btw was nicked from the Aenid by Virgil)

It was made for use as a reckoning counter as opposed to a presentation piece (jeton de presence).

Here's a slightly better example which will also better help you assess the value of yours.

http://tinyurl.com/qofps

Thanks for the help.

Ah well, paid a little bit over what I should have, but an interesting coin anyways. For some reason it just caught my eye.

I know exactly what you mean about `interesting'.

I caught the jeton `bug' around 1998. My collection of silver ones went over the 500 mark the other day. Many jetons have absolutely fasinating histories, be it events of the day echoed in the topics illustrated or just `recognition' or `remembrance'. They can give quite an insight as to the culture and way of life at the time.

Ian