Table of Contents
What is a jetton?
Jetons or jettons are tokens or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 18th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a counting board, a lined board similar to an abacus.
What is a French Jeton?
Jetons are tokens (not coins) used during the middle ages and afterward for games, counting, and commerce. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, often from France, and some bear truly beautiful artwork.
What is a Nuremberg Jeton?
Today’s #shinything is a great early find, which turns out to be a Nuremberg Jeton. Jetons were tokens or coin-like objects that had a variety of uses, from counting token to currency to a medieval gaming piece. A typical example is shown on the left (via finds.org.uk). Our jeton (right) was from Nuremberg.
What are jetons made of?
Up through the 17th century, several still used a computing table, or counting board, and counters or jetons (or jettons). Here are some images of computing jetons used during this period. All are made of brass and possess a diameter of approximately 27 mm (just over an inch).
What is a jeton counter?
The jetons are the round counters Apart from their monetary use in casinos, jetons are used in card games, particularly in France but also in Denmark. They are traditionally made of wood of different shapes and sizes to represent different values such as 1, 5, 10, 50 or 100 points.
What is jettons?
A coin-like object used in the calculation of accounts. Most commonly made of copper or brass; but also silver (especially 17th century and after: very rarely gold. Lead jettons are also known but their purpose is obscure as they would wear out fast.
How rare are silver jettons?
Silver jettons are very rare at first, but very common by the end of the 17th century; by which time their original function had virtually ceased. Almost all were struck at the Paris mint; their right to strike jettons being very jealously guarded.
Why do jettons never show a mark of value?
They never show a mark of value because, unlike tokens, jettons merely represent a value, by means of their position on a reckoning table ( or cloth) also known as an abacus. This is not to be confused with the bead frame device still in use; although employing a similar principle.