Unknown European Hammered silver - Poland?

candy2012mustang

Hi Guys-

I bought this a few weeks ago and I dont have a positive ID on it yet. Anybody seen these before?

lordmarcovan

You've got the name HENRI, which would indicate to me that it's more likely French-flavored. France? Low Countries?

lordmarcovan

Aha.

It appears to be from Lorraine, which explains why it sounded French to me.

The similar-looking coin illustrated here is a half-groschen of Henry II, Duke of Lorraine, circa 1608-1624. (Spelled "Heinrich" in German, as in the Saurma catalog.) If yours is around 19mm in diameter, I guess that would be it. A ca. 1608-1624 half-groschen of Lorraine.

candy2012mustang

Yup, around 19mm. Thanks for the ID, these hammered coins are hard to identify. It doesnt help that my books only go back to 1701...

Thanks!
Kev

lordmarcovan

Based on that information, since the coin seemed to post-date 1601, I consulted the 17th century Krause volume (4th edition, ca. 2008), and found a similar listing cataloged under German States (Lorraine). Hm. I guess that makes sense. Wasn't Lorraine part of the Holy Roman Empire, like much of Germany? Anyway, it's right on the German-French border.



<< <i>KM# 13
2 DENIER
Silver
Ruler: Heinrich Obv: Crowned above 2 adjacent arms
Rev: Crowned eagle
Mint: Nancy
Note: Legend varieties exist.

Date Mintage VG F VF XF Unc
ND — 16.00 33.00 65.00 130 —
1623 — 16.00 33.00 65.00 130 —
1624 — 16.00 33.00 65.00 130 — >>



There is no illustration in Krause, but that description seems to match up with the Saurma, except for them calling it a 2-denier piece rather than a half-groschen. Depending on the size of this piece, I suppose there could be more than one denomination with this design, but that's what I found listed, anyway. I think we can pretty confidently nail it down to Lorraine, at the very least: the coat of arms matches.