Copper alloy jetton, with 4 lis in lozenge/ shield in tressure, minted Nuremberg, AD 1480-1500 from context 6001, Evans Halshaw site, Hyde Street, Winchester (WINCM:AY 35).

Copper alloy jetton, with 4 lis in lozenge/ shield in tressure, minted Nuremberg, AD 1480-1500 from context 6001, Evans Halshaw site, Hyde Street, Winchester (WINCM:AY 35).

Jetton

Medieval, between 1480 and 1500

Found by Wessex Archaeology at the Evans Halshaw site, Hyde Street, Winchester, Hampshire in the early 2000s

This copper alloy disc, although it has been struck in the same way as a coin, was actually used by a late medieval businessman for counting on a board. The earliest jettons used in England were also made in this country, but this one was imported from Nuremberg in the 15th century. Jettons were always decorated, here with a design of fleur-de-lys and shield. Although the Evans Halshaw site, now known as Silchester Place is just within the precinct of Hyde Abbey, the jetton is more likely to have been used for commerce by people living outside its walls.

Copper alloy jetton, with 4 lis in lozenge/ shield in tressure, minted Nuremberg, AD 1480-1500 from context 6001, Evans Halshaw site, Hyde Street, Winchester (WINCM:AY 35).