Coin? with old ship. Dutch?

[Smulan]

Hello there!
Back to coins again. How about this one, its about 20 mm in diameter and weight is 1 g. Its said to possible be of Dutch origin. Any input mostly welcomed. /Smulan

[rick2]

its not dutch !

it looks more like a token than a coin

[Smulan]

its not dutch !

it looks more like a token than a coin

Thanks Rick2. Agree, its not looking very coinish to me either. What about age? Its very thin...

[rick2]

16th -17th century

but i could be wrong , the type of ship looks like a vessel from the 14th or 15th century

[Smulan]

Something I noticed:

1. This look like the Cyrillic letter I

2. Looks a  bit like the Cyrillic letter G.

3: Moon orientation indicates a south motive of the sky.

[Smulan]

16th -17th century

but i could be wrong , the type of ship looks like a vessel from the 14th or 15th century

Just received an e-mail saying that the collector had written 13th century on the frame to this "item".

[WelfIV]

Hi,

this is a counter ('Rechenpfennig' in German), probably from Nuremberg.
It is one of the most common designs for counters: Ship and inscription PLVS VLTRA (or similar) and Sun, Moon and Stars on the other side.
It was a popular design and so these counters were produced through many years (or even centuries?). So there are lots of different varieties.
Here is a similiar one from Lauer in Nuremberg:
http://www.muenzauktion.com/pater/item.php5?lang=en&id=40220018
And another one:
http://www.ma-shops.com/wag/item.php5?id=1001210012&lang=en

Counters were used for calculation. Here you can see a picture from a 16th century book of Adam Ries that shows a merchant using counters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rechnung_auff_der_linihen_1525_Adam_Ries.PNG

Peter

[Smulan]

Great Peter,  thanks for solving this! Yet another thing I did not know existed. Does it mean that this Rechenpfennig actually could be 600 hundred years old?

[WelfIV]

Hi Smulan,

well, I am not sure, but I don't think it is 600 years old.
I think it is 17th to 19th century.

During late 18th and 19th century the "calculation on the line" was not usual any more. But Rechenpfennige were still made.
These late Rechenpfennigs were used for calculation at school and as play money for card games etc.

Peter