eprintid: 10203913 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/20/39/13 datestamp: 2025-03-05 14:27:35 lastmod: 2025-03-05 14:27:35 status_changed: 2025-03-05 14:27:35 type: book_section metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Andrews, Murray title: The “English Custom” in Early Modern Scandinavia? A Folded Gold Ryal from Norway ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B03 divisions: C03 divisions: F31 divisions: K74 note: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: 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. date: 2025-01-21 date_type: published publisher: Milano University Press official_url: https://doi.org/10.54103/milanoup.193.c302 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2354765 doi: 10.54103/milanoup.193.c302 isbn_13: 979-12-5510-177-2 lyricists_name: Andrews, Murray lyricists_id: MANDR30 actors_name: Andrews, Murray actors_id: MANDR30 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public place_of_pub: Milan, Italy pagerange: 547-556 book_title: The Many Sides of a Coin. Money and Materiality throughout History: Essays in Honour of Lucia Travaini editors_name: Baldassarri, Monica editors_name: Cook, Barrie editors_name: Locatelli, Stefano citation: Andrews, Murray; (2025) The “English Custom” in Early Modern Scandinavia? A Folded Gold Ryal from Norway. In: Baldassarri, Monica and Cook, Barrie and Locatelli, Stefano, (eds.) The Many Sides of a Coin. Money and Materiality throughout History: Essays in Honour of Lucia Travaini. (pp. 547-556). Milano University Press: Milan, Italy. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203913/1/The%2Benglish%2Bcustom.pdf