FRANCISC-DG-FRANCOR-REX

lordmarcovan

One of the more interesting finds from last Sunday's detector outing.

Care to take a stab at it?

I already know what it is. Knew the minute I dug it.

But I thought I'd toss it out here for y'all.

oldshep

Rob - I don't have a clue about the dig find but I would like to give you kudos for the very nice tribute to Wayne on your post it is well designed and heartfelt.
Shep

mnemtsas2

Hmmm, Francesco by the grace of God, King of France. So it's French. I cant see enough of the obverse to tell exactly what coin it is though.

coinpictures

It's a big ole' pile of dirt... oh, and it has some sort of coin thingy sitting on top of it.

FilthyBroke

Ok, I give up...you have it labeled as a button? Looks sort of like a type of jeton, but I'd need better pics.

Where do you dig this stuff up? (yes, I'm jealous!)

DeepSix

Milan 6 soldi, struck in the name of King Francis I of France?

Edited to add: Although that would be a really old coin (16th century?) to have been dug in the eastern U.S.

FilthyBroke

<< <i>that would be a really old coin (16th century?) to have been dug in the eastern U.S. >>




That was my thought, too....could it be a uniform button or something along those lines? Perhaps made from an old coin? Maybe I'm way off...

spoon

Looks a lot like this

IloiloKano

<< <i>One of the more interesting finds from last Sunday's detector outing. >>


One???

You mean, there's more??? WOW!

lordmarcovan

<< <i>I would like to give you kudos for the very nice tribute to Wayne on your post it is well designed and heartfelt. >>

Thank you. It IS heartfelt. When I found out about Wayne, belatedly, it was a real kick in the gut for me. I will really miss him a lot. Somebody I'd never heard of apparently saw my reaction and PM-ed me to call me a "drama queen" and an "ass", presumably in reference to that. As if my grief over Wayne was an act- geez. That was strange.

Anyway... this thing. FilthyBroke saw the title- it is indeed a button. German silver, I believe. It's Victorian, probably circa the latter half of the 19th century (I'm thinking ca. 1880s-1890s, as the house where I found it was built around 1890). It's a two-piece button with a tin or steel back- the back of it is nothing but rust now.

Still, I recognized the name of Francis I of France (1515-1547) straight off, as I once owned an ecu d'or of Francis I. Seeing that pop out of the dirt really amped up the adrenaline for a moment! It even looks a little like a 16th century coin, doesn't it?

But no, it's a Victorian two-piece button.

The remaining unsolved mystery is why a late-19th century button would have the legend and symbol of an early 16th century French king. That one I don't have any answer for. Riddles like this are one reason I love diggin' so much- you never know what's gonna come up.

That crowned salamander is cool. I thought it was a dragon at first.