Classification Query

[geordie582]

I only accidentally collect the odd Jetton and wondered where the demarcation line is between Jettons and Medals? I collect Hammered coins and have a couple of Jettons to place them in historical context but wonder if some should be classed as medals.

[bill]

Interesting question. There are two types of jetons from my perspective, those made for counting boards and those made as a form of "money" as in France (in the US use of the word, they would be tokens, but they don't carry a value). There is actually a third type of French jeton (not much different than those issued earlier, but I believe they no longer functioned in a monetary role) which would more appropriately be called a medal in the US.

 

Other definitions: Token and Jeton.

 

or

 

more definitions.

 

So, if you are confused, that seems to be the state of the subject when you want to use a precise term. I think it safest to abide by the prefered terminology for the subject at hand--jeton in France pre-1900 (?), token, store card, and medal in the US, etc. If you know the piece was used for counting boards, then I would always go with jeton (probably for any form of counter).

[frank]

Hello geordie -- In France the distinction is pretty clear (to me, anyways): jetons are smaller, made of copper, brass or silver, and medals are larger and usually made of bronze. In my collecting, jetons are rarely more than 35 mm across, and medals are larger. But of course there are many other types of exonumia that might fall into either category --advertising pieces, awards, commemoratives, etc. Outside of France I suspect the distinctions are less clear since there is different history of jeton/medal production.

 

Of course the intentions behind minting jetons and minting medals were quite different, also... not to ignore other distinctions between the forms.

[Ian]

While i agree with both Bill and Frank's views i'll still add my 2d worth in to the ring

 

To my mind it is all down to the intent behind their fabrication.

 

The jeton (aka jetton, gecton, etc) was originally used as a tally piece on a board a bit akin to a chequer board. It originates (i believe) from the french verb `jeter' meaning ` to throw'. In one sense, something intrinsically worthless or a `throw away', in another sense something that could be used without thought for damage being sustained. The reckoning board or table was a mediaeval form of counting / accounting similar in concept to an abacus. That's where we Brits managed to get the quaint name for our second in command in government (Chancellor of the Exchequer).

 

Now the `jetons' that were manufactured for counting tokens were almost exclusively base metal, sometimes copper and sometimes a metal mix of copper/ tin and others. The early mediaeval varieties mimicked coinage but were sufficiently different in design to prevent any confusion with coinage of the realm. In France in particular the King sometimes had special jetons struck in silver and gold and gifted these as a token of his regard for senior members of his administration. These are very rare and seldom seen on the market at any price. Through time jetons actually became a form of payment to the various seniors in the royal administrations, with silver becoming more commonly used for senior ranking officals. Gold ones were still sometimes produced, but again very rarely. There are numerous `series' of this type of jeton including those issued for the Kings Counsel (equivalent in many respects to the modern day British `Cabinet Mministers' - just different functions). What isn't commonly understood about this type of jeton is that they were a form of payment (honorarium) and indeed many actually ended up in circulation. Not quite a `coin' but still spendable. Bear in mind that the basis of `currency' was copper, silver, and gold, so a silver jeton at roughly the same weight as 1/3rd ecu would be readily spendable. Of course, this is an overly simplistic explanation. To add to the complexity, some individuals had jetons minted specifically for their own use. Some inidivudals had their own jetons minted for them by the King. as one means to honour specific achievement, but still as part of the general `honorarium' for their particular office or department. The French Revolution put an end to jetons being issued as `payment' for members of the royal administrations, but the principle was by then thoroughly embedded in French society and culture. You will find jetons being issued during the Napoleonic era onwards. The directors and shareholders of many companies as well as officials of various institutions such as local chambers of commerce received jetons for their services as a recognition for their time and efforts for attending board meetings, but generally this time in addition to formal payment, and not `instead of'. maybe of some note to our USA colleagues, the so-called `Castorland' half dollar is a jeton which was minted as a honorarium. Whenever the board of that particular French venture met to discuss their American colony, each member received payment in the form of a jeton for their time (a true `jeton de presence'). Whether or not is was `spendable'.....well, let's face it, any form of silver `coinage' was at that time.

 

There is another type of jeton worth a mention, (but not particularly common to France) and that is the type issued for use as a religious or political statement. Again originally issued as a `counter' for use on the `reckoning table' / chequer board, but due to their relative success in getting a message out and about they became a particular media tool. The types i think of most in this context are the ones issued in the low countries during the upheavals in the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands.

 

When do they become `medalets / medallions/ medals'? I guess when they were manufactured for reasons other than being a form of honorarium payment or as a reckoning counter (rechenpfennig as the germans called them). The dividing line becomes a very fine one at times. In France today however, modern machine tokens and tourist type souvenir `medalets' are being categorised as `jetons'. To me they are as different from the real thing as chalk and cheese, but to each their own as the saying goes............

 

Ian

[constanius]

Part of the beauty of collecting exonumia is there are so many variables. Most objects obligingly fall into neat compartments, others seem to straddle two or more. I agree with all that has been posted so far as regards actual definitions.

 

I classified this as a jeton but it could also be called a propaganda or historical medal or medalet

 

The Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) UTRECHT Copper Jeton 25mm. A woman rousing a sleeping man from under a tree, whilst pointing to the town & saying O.THOMA .RESVEILLE (O Thoma awaken) the Rev: Shows a soldier with sword & halberd (in fact a partizan) accompanied by a Drummer-boy, trying to recruit a man armed with a gun and sword who is exiting a Barbershop, by saying MARCHE.A.MOY.LA.VIOLLETE (March with me in the Violets).

 

This one is interesting & unusual, in that it shows the actions & the words spoken by people depicted on the jeton/medal, it is like a two sided cartoon.

 

So, whatever we call them, Happy Collecting Everyone!

[geordie582]

Thanks for all the information & opinions, people. I'm always taken aback by the wealth of knowledge availble on the forum! As a tongue-in-cheek aside; I have two wooden nickles, courtesy of American forum friends, so now I'll fondly think of them as modern American jetons

[elverno]

Great info guys! Jetons are one of the reasons I love to collect the French Revolution through Napoleonic era. By far the greatest variety of numismatic material in this period are represented by items collectively known as jetons. Personally the interesting thing to me is to research, or lacking detailed info, speculate ( ) why a particular jeton was produced in the first place. By my period the use of counting boards as such had largely died out except in some of the German principalities and among some ethnically related groups of traders. The numbers of actual jetons required for these groups were relatively low; it's not like they actually threw them *away*. Somewhere in my books is one on how the darn counting board actually worked; it used Roman numerals and the jetons were moved on the board, or added to as needed, for addition, subtraction multiplication(!)... For a couple of weeks I played around learning how to use one, thinking that it might make for an interesting talk at a coin club. Never did give the talk though...

 

One interesting detail with jetons is in determining whether the manufacturer or client *thought* it would be spent. When they did you will sometimes see adjustment marks such as in the reverse of this jeton. Clearly produced as a commemorative (medal), identified in all French authorities as a jeton but adjusted for weight. The adjustment could be the Lauer workshop making sure they didn't ship out something heavier than contracted for. There are a couple of arguments against that; if you are producing a commemorative why would a customer accept any that had been defaced? And secondly, Lauer produced many of these jetons in 1814-1815 as a way to cash in on the "yay we won the war" craze. Again, why would a retail customer accept a defaced medallet? Lastly, brass wasn't accepted by most folks as money, except in areas and times of extreme shortages of coinage. So why adjust it at all unless you were selling by weight? Which brings us in tortured ways back to the beginning. It's why I love collecting.