Funny Coincidence

Coinlover101

I'm currently reading a very good book called Tombland, by C.J. Sansom, which is set in and around London during the summer of 1549.

One of the main characters, Jack Barak, is staying at an inn in Norwich called The Blue Boar.

This morning I was going through a few ebay listings when I came across this 1660's, London, The Blue Boar token.

It would be a nice coincidence if the inn and the token are one and the same.

The book incidentally is fiction but the geography and broad events are historically correct (as far as I can tell).

MrEureka

Have you been able to figure out where POSTTAN (sp?) GATE is or was located?

Boosibri

Guessing it’s Postern which means back gate or side gate.

There were seven gates in London:
Aldgate – leading to Colchester and Essex
Bishopsgate – leading to Shoreditch and up towards Cambridge along the old Ermine Street.
Moorgate – Not an original Roman gate, it was more than likely a postern in Roman times only becoming a gate in 1415. The gate led to the Moorfields a marshy area north of the city.
Cripplegate – Leading to the village of Islington.
Aldersgate – leading towards St. Bartholomews Abbey, Smithfield Market and London Charterhouse. Aldersgate was thought to have replaced a previous gate to the west of the city.
Newgate – leading towards Oxford and the west.
Ludgate – leading towards Bath and the South West

MrEureka

This circa 1616 Sommer Islands threepence was found in Kent. Makes me wonder if the threepence and token were produced at the same mint.

gscoins

Sadly, the author of the book referenced above passed away late last month. C. J. Sanson wrote some terrific mystery novels set in the Tudor period, including this one.

SimonW

That's dang cool! Love this stuff

Sapyx

"Blue Boar" is a fairly "believably safe" generic name, as there are dozens of pubs named "Blue Boar" in England. It's kind of like The Simpsons creators naming their fictional American town "Springfield"; half the states in America have a "Springfield" in them, so it's a good generic name.

Norwich currently has a Blue Boar pub, but I don't know if there was one there in 1549.

According to legend, the personal badge of King Richard III was a white boar, and lots of pubs that opened during this period took that as their badge. But after Richard III was killed in battle by Henry VII's forces led by general John de Vere (whose personal badge was a blue boar), the pubs hastily repainted their boar symbols blue to avoid being branded as traitorous by the new regime. I'm not sure how factual this story is, but it's the story that anyone who owns a pub named "Blue Boar" will tell you if you ask them where the name came from.

lordmarcovan

Cool coincidence, even if it’s not the same inn or pub.