Discovery at Cannon Street

During a recent visit to the foreshore near Southwark Bridge with Eliott, one of our MOLA colleagues, Nick Elsden, spotted this lovely jetton or token.

Subsequently Eliott showed it to Dr Marit Gaimster, a finds specialist at Pre Construct Archaeology who emailed us with the following information:

I remembered the lovely jetton you showed me at the conference last week; I think it is a so-called ‘ship penny’ type, made in Nuremberg and dating from the early to mid-16th century. The type developed from French jettons with the Galley of France, from the seal of Paris, as its main design (Mernick and Algar 2001, 245; cf. Mitchiner 1988, 365–76); the reverse shows a lozenge with four fleurs de lis.”

The references quoted are below:

Mernick, P. and Algar, D., 2001. ‘Jettons or Casting Counters’, Salisbury Museum Medieval Catalogue 3, 213–60.

M. Mitchiner, 1988. Jetons, medalets and tokens: the medieval period and Nuremberg. Vol I., Seaby.

The City foreshore at Cannon Street continues to reveal fascinating finds from all periods!