1793 Large Cent made into a Patriotic Token

Here are some thoughts for Memorial Day.

One afternoon many years ago someone decided to make a patriotic token from an old cent. A worn 1793 flowing hair cent was retrieved from a drawer and became a canvas.

This was clearly a left-handed effort. An old screwdriver was taken from the toolbox and used as an engraving tool. And with nearly 150 impressions, a US flag was boldly centered on the reverse and flanked by two stars. The rim was adorned with 45 dentils.

It was not a rush job, just crudely made. The design is engaging and precisely balanced. The flag is shaped with a gentle curvature and supported by a broad base on a hill. The letters are tidy with serifs that reflect a bygone era. Overall, the image draws you in and entices you to study each mark.

The cent was not pierced, so it was probably carried. The design is worn with a decade of fingertips softening the design. The patina has depth – dark in the fields and chocolate where the metal was raised from the marks.

Folk art like this is evocative. I want to know who made it and when. But we will never know. It could be a Civil War piece, as it was probably inspired during a period of nationalism.

Maybe it served as a good luck token. I wonder if it worked. Did the soldier survive the battle?

Some numismatists might see this cent as simply mutilated. Others might give it a glance and move on. “It is just a beat piece with bad art,” some will say.

But I disagree. It is more than that. It takes initiative and vision to produce a token like this one. There was a purpose.

And, it is this human action that makes all the difference. Coins like this are alive. This one has more to say than an unmolested cent of the same type.

This is the kind of coin you keep after the others are sold.

Happy Memorial Day.

Old Sails: French Galleon sails into the Sun on 1685 Jeton

Here is an uplifting panorama of a fully rigged ship on a starboard tact heading out of a heavy rain and into the sunshine.

The hull with its low forecastle and elaborate aft-castle tells us that it is a galleon from the seventeenth century. And the date on this French jeton confirms this: 1685.

The sun is personified as a young women with golden locks morphing into bright rays. She smiles. And her rays break through the clouds and shine directly on the ship below.

All is brightening. 

The storm with its massive rain drops is left behind – clear weather ahead.

The legend reads: VNVS QVI CVNCTA SERENAT. The words translate a positive affirmation: “The one for whom everything is brightening.”

And so, trading is prosperous, and the seas are safe. Mother nature is looking out for the mariners and merchants. And for France.

This jeton is dated 1685 on the obverse. It was struck for the Mayor of Paris, Henry de Fourey. Mitchiner cataloged this jeton as 3299; he estimated 900 latten pieces struck. They were minted at the Royal Mint and distributed near the end of the year to civic officers.

This is one of my favorite jetons. It is scarce but available – I have seen two others in as many years. The center and clouds wear easily as this one shows.