15th Century Trade and Business Connections Revealed with the Discovery of a Royal Jetton
In advance of the construction of a new school, our archaeologists completed an archaeological trial-trench evaluation near Wymondham in south Norfolk. Whilst the evaluation did not record any archaeological features beneath the ground, it did demonstrate the value of a metal detector survey in recovering artefacts from the plough soil that revealed the continental connections of the occupants in the 15th to 17th centuries. We may consider such economics and common currency as a relatively modern phenomenon but merchants approximately 500 years ago were already advancing methods of trade and accounting.
Trade and business connections are revealed by two objects of ‘paranumismatica’. Both are jettons – copper alloy discs that were initially used for reckoning accounts with the aid of counting boards or cloths, though it is thought that by the mid-16th century they may have been used more as gaming counters. The word jetton derives from the French ‘jeter’, meaning ‘to throw’, referencing the activity of ‘casting’ of accounts.
On the left is a copper alloy French jetton of ‘four fleur de lis in lozenge’ type probably issued in either Paris or Tournai. This is a royal jetton, with the inscription of VIVE LE ROI VIVE LE ROI on the obverse (translated as ‘Long live the King, long live the King’), and is known to have been struck in the period 1488-97, spanning the reigns of both Louis XI (AD1461-1483) and Charles VIII (AD1483-1497). The reverse legend reads GETTES*BIEN*PAIES*BIEN (roughly translating as: to buy well, you pay well).
To the right is a Nuremberg ‘rose and orb’ jetton of slightly later date, issued by Hanns Krauwinckel II between 1586-1635 with the reverse motto reading GOTES GABEN SOL MAN LOB (One should praise God’s gifts). By the mid 16th century Nuremburg (in Bavaria, south Germany) had established itself as the primary producer of cheap mass-produced jettons, breaking the French monopoly on their production, and achieving a distribution across Europe.
A report on the archaeological investigation has been prepared for the client, and once submitted to satisfy the planning condition attached to the proposed development, the site archive, including the jettons will be deposited with Norfolk Museums Service.
