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