%I Milano University Press
%L discovery10203913
%C Milan, Italy
%X The medieval “English custom” of folding coins for divine assistance has drawn much numismatic attention, and recent finds are reshaping our understanding of the geographical and chronological parameters of the practice in both Old and New World contexts. This article presents a new addition to the corpus of folded coins: a worn and broken gold coin held in the Coin Cabinet of the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo. The coin, identified as a Dutch imitation of a ryal of Edward IV struck in 1585-87, shows at least two major fold creases across six fragments, possibly produced in stages or over a longer period. Its late date and Scandinavian provenance are of major interest, and suggest that the practice of coin folding persisted beyond England’s borders even after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The origin of the folding remains uncertain, and while it could have happened in Lutheran Norway, the Netherlandish connection raises possibilities of it having been folded in the Low Countries, potentially as an act of faith by the Catholic underground during the Dutch Republic. The coin prompts further research into the “English custom” of coin folding in medieval and early modern northern Europe, and challenges previous assumptions about its scope and timeframe.
%O This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
%T The “English Custom” in Early Modern Scandinavia? A Folded Gold Ryal from Norway
%E Monica Baldassarri
%E Barrie Cook
%E Stefano Locatelli
%A Murray Andrews
%B The Many Sides of a Coin. Money and Materiality throughout History: Essays in Honour of Lucia Travaini
%P 547-556
%D 2025