Design types of the follis of St. Hildegard Trade Tokens

The USH Trade Token Series

Coin of the Realm for the Current Middle Ages

DESIGN TYPES

(through mid-February, anno societatis xxxiv, being 2000 of the Common Era)

by His Lordship Ian Cnulle,
Guildmaster of the Monier's Guild of An Tir

The obverse of all of the St. Hildegard's follis types show the +H emblem of the University surrounded by the inscription "SANCTA HILDEGARDENSIS". Two dies have been used.

The first, made in the spring of 1994, is entirely punchwork and in low relief. Its inscription includes the "V.V." mintmark (for "vicus ventosus" = Latin for "windy town" or "Windwic" - the University of St. Hildegard is located in Klickitat County in south central Washington State, an area known within the SCA as the Shire of Windwic), plus the I-C monogram of Ian Cnulle, who made the dies. The outward orientation of the mint and privy marks indicate that the inscription begins to the left of bottom center.

The second obverse die, made in the spring of 1998, is entirely engraved in high relief. The design is more compact, and, more appropriately for Romaion style, all of the design elements are much heavier. The inscription is the same, but does not include the mint mark. The I-C monogram privy mark serves as the inscription stop marker, indicating that the inscription begins to the right of top center.

As indicated below, some of the reverse types occur with both varieties of the obverse.

REVERSE TYPES

(listed in chronological order of issue):

1. The "original Barak" type The first type of Hildegard follis was struck using a die originally made in November 1992 for the Royal Presentation coins for the Coronation of King Barak of An Tir in January of 1993. (Keanu Barak's persona is that of a Viking who has served in the Varangian Guard of the Romaion Emperor; Jarl Barak is a patron of the USH). The original Royal Presentation coins had on the other side simply an inscription, "SECVLA MEDIA CURRENS" (for "Current Middle Ages") in four lines.

This die was entirely punchwork, except for some of the detail of the hand and relief on the neck. The design was modeled on a follis of Emperor "Leo the Wise" (Leo VI, ruled 886- 912). The inscription is "BARAK BASILEUS AN TIR"; "basileus" is the Greek word for "king" used in Romaion coin inscriptions. Because of this design, the Hildegard folles have come to be called "baraks" or "barak bucks". The first barak trading tokens were issued in June of '94.

2. "Barak & Lao", A.S.XXX This type shows facing standing figures of patrons of the USH, Jarl Barak and Duchess Lao Tao Sheng, the latter shown with the curtain of pearls head dress of her Chinese Imperial style Court garb. The inscription is "BARAK ET LAO PATRONI". The design is taken from a gold histamenon nomisma of Romaion Emperor Romanus III (1028-'34). Changes to the design are that Lao crowning Barak with a laurel wreath replaces the Virgen Mary placing the Imperial Crown on Romanus' head. Barak holds a goblet instead of a globus cruciger.

The A.S. year date in Roman numerals appears vertically between the figures. The die is a combination of punchwork and engraving. It was completed at the end of A.S. XXX with the intention of issuing it at the Thirtieth Year Celebration in June 1996. However only a couple of dozen pieces were available at TYC. The type was first issued in quantity at An Tir/West War the following month.

3. "Skepti-Barak", A.S. XXXI This type was produced shortly after the Barak & Lao type. A few pieces were available at An Tir/West War, with large quantities issued at Skepti's Coronation in mid-July. The die work technique is very similar to that of the Barak & Lao type.

The design is a composite of twelfth century Romaion types showing two standing figures of the Emperor in Imperial robes and a martial saint in ancient Roman style military attire. The image is of Skepti and Barak upholding the Great Sword of An Tir (or an alternate interpretation is that Barak is handing the sword to Skepti). Barak and Skepti are the "Ravensfury Brothers". This coin celebrates a "Varangian Dynasty" in An Tir.

4. "Estrella XIII" This was minted to commemorate - and was issued at - Estrella War XIII in Goodyear AZ (in the Kingdom of Atenveldt) in February of 1997. The die is the first one that was entirely engraved and is the first high relief die of the series. The star in the top angle of the X symbolically refers to the War ("estrella" means "star" in Spanish), while the I's in the rest of the angles of the X complete the Roman numeral XIII.

The design was generally inspired by the denomination side of early Romaion bronze coins, which had large Greek letters used as numerals to indicate the denomination.

5. "Gulf War VI" This was minted to commemorate, and was issued at, Gulf War VI hosted by the Kingdom of Meridies in Mississippi in March of 1997. This event has the reputation of being the largest equestrian event in the SCA, and Queen Rhiannon of Meridies is a noted equestrienne, hence the mounted knight design. The coin also names King Garreth of Meridies, but instead of including the name of the Kingdom in the inscription, the Kingdom's heraldic device appears on the banner on the knight's lance. In a sense, this type is the first of the "Kingdom badge" series.

This die is all engraved except for the double beaded border circle. The design was taken from a copper follaro of Norman Count Roger I of Sicily (1072-1101). The Norman conquerors of Sicily were contemporary with the Normans who conquered England; this image of a Norman knight is similar to those on the Bayeaux Tapestry. The only change to the design was making the banner wider to accomodate the device of Meridies, and adding the Roman numeral VI to the field.

6. "Darius & Morgaine", A.S. XXXII This is simply the year dated type for A.S. 32. Rather than producing a new type for each Reign in An Tir, St. Hildegard's produces one dated type for each anno societatis year; the monarchs honored on these coins are not necessarily the current ones, but rather those who have shown support of St. Hildegard's (e.g. the Barak & Lao type is dated three years after their Reign - they were honored as Patrons of USH, rather than current Crowned Heads).

The Darius & Morgaine type was first issued at September Crown Tournament after the end of their Reign. This is the earliest type to be struck with both the old low relief and new high relief obverse dies.

The design was inspired by the bronze coins of Emperor Justin II and Empress Sophia (565-'78) of the distinctive style of the Antioch mint. Besides the different style crowns, the main difference from the Romaion originals is that Darius & Morgaine (rendered "Morgana" on the coin) are shown holding hands instead of both of them holding up an extraordinarily large globus cruciger between them. The A.S. date in Roman numerals is in "exergue" (literally "out of the work"), i.e. below the ground line of the design. There are a few punched bead details, otherwise the whole die is engraved.

7. "Estrella War XIV" - struck for the next year of the same annual event, in February '98. Very similar to Estrella XIII, this one has a crown, as well as a star filling the two angles of the X not taken up by the rest of the Roman numeral. It names King Arthur and Queen Tamira of Atenveldt. Most were struck with the old low relief +H die; the few struck with the new high relief die (actually struck after the event) tend to be somewhat weakly struck due to having high relief on both sides.

8. "Ansteorra" Kingdom badge type This is the first type of the "Kingdom badge series" proper. This and the next type, the Trimaris badge type, were struck for issue at Gulf War VII, as they represent neighboring kingdoms whose subjects attend Gulf War in Meridies in large numbers (the previous year's Gulf War VI type was issued for Meridies at Gulf War VII in March '98). However, modest quantities of the Ansteorra and Trimaris types were available at Estrella War XIV.

The superimposed two five point stars are the "black star of Ansteorra" badge of that kingdom. "Ansteorra" is probably a Celtic language construction for "one star" or "single star"; the Kingdom of Ansteorra is modernly Texas and Oklahoma. The inscription names King Richard and Queen Gladwen in a formula common to the badge series - (king's name) + (queen's name) crown symbol (kingdom name) inscription stop; the inscription stop is often similar in form to the main design.

The Ansteorra die is entirely engraved. The pieces issued through Gulf War VII were struck with the old low relief +H die; the star usually comes to a point in the center with ridge lines to the points of the main star. A few score were struck later with the high relief +H die; on these, the star is typically flat in the middle, and often has heavy nix from excessive force used in striking them in an attempt to get the full relief of the star struck up.

9. "Trimaris" badge type. This is essentially a companion piece to the Ansteorra type. The design is a triskeles of waves. "Trimaris" is Latin for "three seas"; the Kingdom of Trimaris is modernly Florida - surrounded by the three "seas" of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Straits of Cuba. The coin names King Stromek and Queen Alianore. The die is entirely engraved.

It's minting history - time of minting, places of issue, and use of the two +H obverse dies - is similar to that of the Ansteorra type. However, even with the old low relief +H die, not all pieces have the wave centerline ridges complete to thecenter of the triskeles.

10. "Calontir" badge type. This type was minted for the War of the Lilies in June '98 near Kansas City. However, it was first issued at May Crown Tournament and Egil's Tourney in An Tir before War of the Lilies. To the best of my knowledge, all of the Calontir type have been struck with only the new high relief +H die; practically all of them are well struck.

The Kingdom badge of Calontir is the "Cross of Calatrava", which rather resembles four arrows in extremely tightly drawn recurve bows. The coin names King Valens and Queen Susannah. The die is entirely engraved.

11. Midrealm/Jafar/A.S. XXXIII This very special type is the single annual year dated type for anno societatis 33: it is the kingdom badge type for the Kingdom of the Midrealm in the same sense the Gulf War VI type is the kingdom badge type for the Kingdom of Meridies: and it commemorates an individual.

Count Sir Jafar alSafah, KSCA, OP, was a former King of the Midrealm, a Knight of the SCA, and a member of the peerage Order of the Pelican when he won the Midrealm Crown Tournament in the Fall of '97. He was scheduled to be crowned King of the Midrealm for the second time in the Spring, but he unexpectedly died in December after a brief illness.

The image on this ambitious coin was intended to be an actual likeness of the individual (with limited success). The design was taken from that used on late Roman and early Romaion gold solidus coins minted from the reign of Constantius II (337- '61) through the first part of the reign of Justinian I (527- '65). (Early in Justinian's reign, the design was changed to that of a facing head [instead of 3/4 facing] with the figure holding a globus cruciger instead of a spear; this latter version of the design was used on bronze coins as well as gold.)

In the inscription, the Roman style crested helmet divides the date in Roman numerals. Since Jafar had Moorish persona (he was African-American), his name also appears in the field of the design written in Kufic Arabic script (during the seventh century, as the Arabs conquered Romaion territory, they continued to mint the Romaion coin types, but added Arabic inscriptions to them). Queen Kenna ruled without a consort in order to honour Jafar's memory.

The badge of the Kingdom of the Midrealm is a dragon. Having no attractive period models for dragons as coin designs - particularly for a large copper coin - the dragon badge was incorporated into the gold solidus design by placing it on the shield on the figure's shoulder (the original coins always had a horseman on the shield).

This die is all engraved, except for some punched beading decoration on the helmet and armor. To the best of my knowledge, this type is struck exclusively with the new high relief +H die. Although the bust side is usually well struck up, there are often nicks on various parts of the face due to excessive force in striking. Often the +H emblem is not fully struck up, being flat instead of pointed on the center line of the H and cross (and thus resembling the typical denomination side of Romaion bronze coins). The type was first issued at May Crown Tournament in An Tir.

12. "An Tir kingdom badge" type The kingdom badge of An Tir is a facing lion's head "caboshed" (i.e. separate from the body). None of the few instances of this subject being used on coins in the middle ages resemble the conventional naturalistic images used by SCA heralds.

The design of this St. Hildegard type is actually a composite of two coin designs. The source of the overall composition of the three quarter facing head with part of the lower jaw showing is a copper follaro of Count William II of Norman Sicily (1166-'89). This design was used as early the reign of Count Roger II (1105-'30). These twelfth century Sicilian coins are extraordinary for coins of the middle ages because they were apparently directly inspired by ancient Greek coins.

The source for the modeling and texture detail used on this badge type is the same as the original inspiration of the 12th century coins, specifically silver coins of the ancient Greek polis of Messana (Messina since the middle ages) in Sicily, and particularly an early fourth century BCE type of the polis of Rhegion, across the straits of Messina in mainland Italy.

On these, and many other ancient Greek coins, the lion is shown fully facing but from an angle looking down on the lion's head. Although sometimes referred to as a lion "mask", this image is usually identified as a lion "scalp". This was probably intended as a symbolic reference to the demi-god and hero Herakles (Hercules in Latin). One of Herakles' heroic feats was that he strangled a lion with his bare hands; he then wore the lion's skin as a cloak with the lion's scalp as a hood.

Both the tetradrachm of Rhegion and the twelfth century Sicilian follaro have no inscriptions on the lion scalp side. The style of the lettering on the An Tir type is the thin, angular, non-serifed form typical of ancient Greek coin inscriptions. The beaded border circle with inner and outer solid lines is that used on the twelfth century Sicilian coins. The border beads and texture on the lion's whisker pads is punched; the rest of the die is engraved.

The type was first issued at May Crown Tournament in the Reign of Brendan and Aryana, who were instrumental in the re- enstatement of the incipient Shire of Windwic. This type is struck exclusively with the high relief +H and is usually well struck.

	13. The Kingdom of the West The design of this type of St. Hildegard's follis is based on the bronze follis and half follis coins of the later part of the reign of Romaion (i.e. Eastern Roman or "Byzantine") Emperor Justinian I (527-'65). Beginning in the reign of Constantius in the mid fourth century, for about two hundred years the design of the late Roman gold solidus coins showed a three quarter facing armored bust of the Emperor holding a spear over his shoulder (vide Jafar type above), while the bronze coins showed a draped profile bust. In the twelfth year of Justinian's reign, the design of the gold coins was changed to a full facing armored bust holding a globus cruciger instead of the spear.
	This new version of the design was also used on the two largest denominations of the bronze coins to signal a reform of the coinage in which the coins of each denomination were much larger than the previous issue. However, by the end of Justinian's reign, the coins had been gradually reduced to about the same size as the pre-reform coins. Subsequent Emperors continued to use this design occasionally through the reign of Constantine IV (668-'85).
	The Kingdom of the West type names King Havoc and Queen Etaine, ruling during An Tir/West War (near Crescent City, CA) in A.S. year 33, where these coins were first issued. On the shield on the shoulder of the bust, the "voided Crown dancetty of three" in a laurel wreath heraldic device of the King and Kingdom of the West replaces the equestrian figure that appeared on all versions of the original Romaion design. The globus cruciger bears the +H symbol of St. Hildegard's instead of the simple cross used on the originals. Instead of an individualized portrait, the Romaion coins of this type simply showed a generalized Emperor bust that varied remarkably from mint to mint, and even on different dies used by the same mint. All of the West type folles of St. Hildegard are struck with the new high relief +H die on the other side.

14. The Kingdom of the Outlands

The design for the St. Hildegard's follis honouring the Kingdom of the Outlands shows the symbol of that Kingdom - a leaping stag. Although the highly abstracted style of the rendition of the design bears affinity to early Anglo- Saxon coin design, the primary inspiration was the extraordinarily bold artistic expression of the base silver staters of Armorica - a Celtic tribal issue of the first century BCE (Armorica was the south coast of England, Brittany in Gaul, and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey - most of the surviving coins of this type are from hoards found in the Channel Islands).

The original Armorican staters showed an explosive horse facing right, with degenerate remants of other design elements, including a boar between the horse's legs and possibly a chariot and driver behind the horse. The abstracted forms and extremely high relief of this design give it a feeling of elemental power.

For the Outlands coin, the image was reversed to face left and adapted to represent a deer instead of a horse. The right angle "shine lines" of the sun and stars orient the design to show that the stag is leaping upward. The curve of the animal's body is like a tightly drawn bow poised to shoot its being forward and upward. The crescent of the buck's body and the main line of the antlers echo the curve of the moon in the middle to suggest reflection of essences within nature.

The Armorican staters had no border circles or inscriptions; other Celtic coins typically had very short inscriptions, when they had any at all. In this cased, "EX TER." is intended to suggest a barbarous attempt to express "out" and "land" in Latin. While in Celtic coin design, the sun and stars were usually rerpresented as a large dot surrounded by smaller dots, on this coin, a triple line sun-icon was used as an indirect reference to the culture of the indigenous people of the modern location of the Kingdom of the Outlands, as well as to reinforce the orientation of the design.

15. The Kingdom of Caid

The Caid token proudly displays the main charges of the heraldic device of the Kingdom of Caid, and the names of al Tomuki and Luciana, King and Queen of Caid.

Close observers will note the different form of "A" at the beginning of the inscription. The "al" of "alTomuki" is the Arabic definite article, similar to the use of "the" in English. It's use indicates that alTomuki is probably an identifiying epithet [e.g. "alGhazi" = "the Victorious one"] rather than a personal name such as "Mohammed", which is not written with the definite article.

In Arabic, the definite article is not written as a separate word. There are different ways of transliterating Arabic nouns into Roman letters. The "al" can separated by a space or a hyphen, neither of which is consistent with the style of medi�val coin inscriptions, or the "al" is in lower case, while the initial letter of the noun itself is capitolized.

Coin inscriptions have never used a mixture of miniscule and majuscule ("lower case" and "upper case" in typographic jargon) letter forms, but in this case, H.L. Ian Cnulle, the designer and engraver of the USH token series, took the artistic license of using a different style of "a" (one that is contemporary with early Romaion coin inscriptions and transitional to the written miniscule form) and a narrower "l" to suggest the grammatical distinction.

16. The Kingdom of Artemesia

The St. Hildegard's follis representing the Kingdom of Artemesia is struck in the name of King Sean and Queen Kassandra, and features a seated griffen as a symbol of the Kingdom. The griffen was modeled on the design of an ancient Greek silver stater of the polis of Abdera in Thrace (on the northern coast of the �g�n Sea), attributed to the period 410 - 385 BCE.

While the particular coin that served as the inspiration is a rare type showing the griffen with both front paws on the ground, the more common types of Abdera of this period showed the griffen with one forleg raised. A laurel wreath was added to show that it is an SCA Kingdom represented.

When the Abderan coins of this period had inscriptions on the griffen side of the coin at all, they were very short (only four letters on the model coin). The positioning and proportions of the griffen had to be modified to accommodate the longer inscription used on this St. Hildegard's type.

There are few medieval examples of coin designs showing griffens; the engraver felt that the high relief style of ancient Greek coins was better suited to the thick fabric of these copper folles.

	17. The Kingdom of Atlantia The design for the St. Hildegard's follis honoring the SCA Kingdom of Atlantia is based on ancient silver coins of Greek colonies in Calabria (the " heel " of the " boot " of the Italian peninsula), primarily of the City of Taras (later Roman Tarentum, now modern Tarento) of the sixth through fourth centuries BCE. The heraldic device of the King and Kingdom of Atlantia (a crown in a wreath over wavey lines) does not resemble medieval coin designs and is difficult to distinguish from the devices of other SCA Kingdoms, as period coin representations of heraldry usually did not indicate field patterns. However, the device of the Queens of Atlantia is an " escallop erminois " (i.e. a scallop shell decorated with ermine tails) between three roses (roses are a symbol of queens generally in SCA heraldry). Although the scallop shell was used in the middle ages as a symbol of pilgrims, it did not appear on medieval coins. Therefore, an ancient Greek coin model was chosen.
	To preserve the naturalistic effect of the ancient style, the ermine tails were used as inscription stops (as well as one of the roses) rather than their being on the shell itself. The inscription names Queen Luned of Snowden (ruling at the time the die was made), and the Crown Princess Niobe Lais of Bellatrix (scheduled to be Crowned Queen shortly after the introduction of the coins at Gulf War in March '99).
	Having part of the inscription read " outward " (i.e. " Atlantia ") is typical of modern coin inscriptions, and was occasionally used on ancient coins, but rarely on medieval coins. This arrangement was used to emphasize the orientation of the scallop shell (placed with the point upward is the " default orientation " in heraldry), and to avoid the impression of the design resembling the Shell Oil Co. logo (which has the point downward).

	18. Anno Societatus XXXIV The design for the St. Hildegard's follis for the thirty-fourth year of the Society honors the contributions made by two key groups; the chirurgeons and the waterbearers.
	While the Society does not provide emergency medical services to participants, many members hold modern credentials in this field. In the early years of the Society, these folks organized themselves in order to be better able to serve the members, and the office of Chirurgeon grew out of their efforts. The design chosen to symbolize the office of Chirurgeon is the medieval device known as a "fleam" It was used in the practice of blood letting. The office of Chirurgeon came into being under the guidance of Mistress Bjo of Griffen.
	Fighting in full armor is a hot, sweaty business. While the actual combat is relatively safe, there is a considerable risk of dehydration and overheating. In order to protect the fighters from the heat, a service group known as "waterbearers" was organized by Mellissa Kendal who was later admitted to the Order of the Pelican in recognition of her contributions to the Society

9. The Principality of Gleann Abhann.

The rampant ram is the charge of the Heraldic device of the Principality of Gleann Abhann in the Kingdom of Meridies. Gleann Abhann (pronounced "glen ahben") consists of "Arkansas (90% of it, anyway), Louisiana, Mississippi, and extreme western Tennessee. "

The coin bears the Principality motto of "HONOR ABOVE ALL"

This is the first coin to commemorate one of the Principalities of the Known Worlde. The University of St. Hildegard would like to extend its thanks to Their Serene Highnesses Eric and Christy for their support of this effort, and a special thanks to Baron Robert for his steadfast support for the University's efforts in Meridies.

The die is entirely hand-engraved with no punch work. The style of the design would be most accurately described as "SCA heraldic" - a rather florid interpretation of sixteenth and seventeenth century heraldic rendition - somewhat more naturalistic and more exaggerated.

Merchant Tokens

These tokens have been created to recognize merchants whose support has played an important and valued role in promoting the use of period trading tokens in historical reenactment.

John Kane - Bookseller

The design for the JKB trading token draws on the impact of Moorish culture on medieval Europe. When the Moorish armies swept north across the Straits of Gibralter to conquer and occupy southern Spain, they also brought with them something more powerful than swords - they brought books!.

While Europe slept through the dark ages, the Moslem world preserved the works of the Ancients, and gave the modern world subjects as fundamental as al-gebra and al-chemy.

This Moorish symbol is still celebrated in the coins of modern day Morroco.

	The Caravan of the High Silk Road The Caravan of the High Silk Road is an association of merchants trading primarily in the lands east of the Mississippi river.
	The design is taken from a copper follaro minted by Count Roger II of Norman Sicily sometime between 1105 and 1130.

	The Pillaged Village The St. Hildegard's follis type minted for the SCA merchant known as "Pillaged Village" is actually not based on any medieval coin design, although it is based on another artform of the period. The overall composition of a horizontal space defined by 'lunettes' above and below was used on eighth century Anglo-Saxon coins, but the content of those designs was limited to lettering and a few small, simple symbols.
	What is most uncharacteristic for medieval coin design is a 'narrative' image, i.e. with action taking place. The pillaging scene was inspired by a panel of the "Franks Casket" (donated to the British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks), a carved whalebone box attributed to Northumbria circa 700. One panel shows an archer named �gili fending off attacking raiders; the general posture, dress, and weapons of the raiders in that scene, as well as the style of representation, were adopted for the Pillaged Village coin, although in the latter case, they encounter terror rather than resistence.
	Runic inscriptions were rarely used on coins, while in the later period of the use of runes, inscriptions sometimes include both runes and Roman letters. Pillaged Village is rendered in a quasi-runic form of Roman letters to evoke the culture that produced the image while remaining readily legible to modern customers. As for the specific culture, while such raiding is commonly associated with Vikings, the Franks casket dates from a century before the Norsemen started "going viking". �gili may have been fighting off other Anglo-Saxons. However, the Anglo-Saxon peoples and the Norsemen were more closely related geographically, linguistically, and culturally than modern people customarily think of them as being. On the other hand, an Anglo-Saxon settler in Northumbria may have been fighting off Scots at the time the Franks Casket was made.

The Greenwood Players

Our first coin commemorating the work of a Renaissance company was introduced at Ye Merrie Greenwood Renaissance Faire, June 26&27th, 1999 in Richland, WA.

In addition to the "The Greenwood Players" inscription, this coin bears two special marks. The first is privy mark of the engraver, His Lordship Ian Cnulle, Guildmaster of the Monier's Guild of An Tir and a Fellow of the University of St. Hildegard.

The second is a stylized harp. This is taken from the "harp groat" of King Henry VIII - the first Irish coin to use the harp to symbolize Ireland. In this case, the harp is used to denote the fun and entertainment of the faire.

The Golde Lemon

The Golde Lemon is a long standing tradition in the Kingdom of An Tir, and is highly valued for its quality food offered at modest prices. Lady Alida Susa Yasamin and Lord Alexander of Glennendale, proprietors

For more information, contact His Lordship Watt Kidman

Purser of the University of St. Hildegard.