Hi Charlie,
Very interesting and strange. I am very interested in Genoese coins because my paternal grandparents came from Genoa.
I have a few observations:
1) I doubt if the structure on the
obverse is the Tower of Jerusalem. It looks like the
city gates of Genoa, which is sometimes referred to as "Genoese castle".
2) The object contained within the castle looks like a
cross, which is a little different than the usual object (which resembles a "Y").
3) The figure in the
countermark looks like the top half of a human (female?) body. It looks like she is holding a round object, like a
patera or
caduceus or ank.
4) The date in the
countermark is throwing me off. The Genoese castle on the
obverse only appears on Genoese coins up until the mid 1600s. In the second half of the 17th century, that castle was replaced by Mary holding Jesus. The date 1755 occurs a full 100 years after that switch. But (a) this is a "
weight" and not a coin, and (b) it is a
countermark, which means that it could have been
applied any time after the
weight was struck.
5) On Genoese coins, the castle is usually between 2 stars or 2 Jerusalem crosses. So, that is not unusual. Please refer to any Genoese scudo as proof.
Meepzorp
