Post Medieval Bronze Hunting Badge with Boar's Head

Mixed group comprising of mostly silver issue coins, each worn flat and coin bent into a double-curved 's' profile for use as a token of love. 27.65 grams total, 19-25mm.



Found on various UK sites since 1974. Property of an Essex collector.

The custom of giving a bent coin as a love-token is known from the 17th century in England. The coins were usually smoothed to obliterate the monarch’s head and then bent twice; sometimes they were engraved with initials or symbols such as hearts or knots. If the sweetheart accepted the youth's advances, she kept the token; if not, she disposed of the coin. The tradition is referred to in the children's rhyme 'There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, he found a crooked sixpence on a crooked stile.'

With flat oval cross-section stem, tapering very slightly from the bowl and ending in a simple ball seal knop; a maker's mark in the form of a Tudor rose within a circular border stamped within the bowl, adjacent to the stem. 48 grams, 17 cm



From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.

Spoons with this type of knop date from the 16th century A.D. The knop, when bearing an owner's initial, could be used as a seal. The bronze spoons of the Tudor era were inexpensive and not mentioned in wills, but if silvered or in silver they were often listed among their owner’s property.

Comprising mainly glazed vessels and fragments including chamber pots, juglets, tripod pouring jugs, bowls with pierced work decoration and others; together with an almost complete vessel in fragments and a pewter tankard. 12.5 kg total, 5.5-26 cm



Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.