Today’s #shinything is a great early find, which turns out to be a Nuremberg Jeton. Jetons were tokens or coin-like objects that had a variety of uses, from counting token to currency to a medieval gaming piece.
A typical example is shown on the left (via finds.org.uk). Our jeton (right) was from Nuremberg. The lettering around the edge show that it was struck by one of the most famous producers, Hans Krauwinckel and dates to the latter half of the 16th Century. Jetons like this have been found all over the country, though concentrated in Norfolk and London. Interestingly, two have been found near to Leiston in the last 6 months.
It was found in the cleaning layer at the top of the ditch or watercourse that flowed through the earthworks field to the west of Leiston Abbey. The discovery of this object is useful to us because it gives us a date and means this feature is, at the latest, most probably from the reformation period and the period of destruction of the monastery, suggesting that we may be excavating the destruction rubble.
This piece was written by findsmaster Nat. You can follow him on twitter @natticus
