Ottoman buckler with German tokens
 

Hi. Newly acquired small size -supposed to be Ottoman- shield,or buckler. Covered with coins or tokens of which i tried to show details in pictures. They all look same. I partially read them and searched the inscription LUD.LAUER*RECH on internet.The search resulted with this link; http://www.ancientpeddler.com/apgall...bum=210&pos=13 . There they are described as a 14th-17th or 16th-17th centuries German token. Can anybody give more details like exactly of which century or for what purpose this "token" was used,or make correction if the info i got is wrong ? Wear to all materials,wood,leather,fabric,iron on both front and the back of the shield looks in harmony well enough with the possibility of having quite a few century age . Built of iron pieces covered onto wood, strenghtened edges with iron plates, with weaved leather holding straps and hand pad. I have seen similar shields in international auctions with German coins described as the coins having been war trophies and getting nailed onto the shields by soldiers to commemorate the victory as a Turkish tradition, but simple brass tokens could have such a pretentious symbolism too? Perhaps it was more clever to spend gold and silver coins and to sacrifice just these tokens of the loot for the purpose :D
The shield looks practically not trustable in a battle, against muskets, swords,arrows.. The main idea of not only nailing the coins onto, but making whole shield was only symbolical? I have acquired 3 of these bucklers all quite similar in model and condition, two with German tokens and one with Ottoman coins. This is the best looking one.

regards

More pictures.. Especially, more certain dating to the tokens is requested please..

Hi Erlikhan,

Interesting shield. Jetons were used as medals and coin currency for some time, 16th century is the earliest I've seen, up to the early 20th. At some point they became a sort of toy money I understand.

The jetons on your shield bear the name of the Ludwig Lauer mint in Nuremberg, founded in 1790. Two names are associated with the mint, Ludwig Christoph Lauer (1817-1873), and his grandfather and founder of the mint, Ernst Ludwig Lauer (1762-1845). Google these names, a lot of examples come up.

Hope this helps.
Emanuel

Edit: I've found the mention of "game counters" and "spiel marke" as well.

Ottoman?
Looks kind of Ethiopian... Wrong?

Manolo thank you,i didnt know the relation between lud-ludwig .I google it together with the word coin results a mint company established in 1790. Perhaps sites in German could provide more details.. But if they are from earliest 1790s, who has nailed them to a buckler? Such a buckler would be of any use against 19th century weapons? . There is some serious labor spent on this buckler. :confused:
Ariel, further examples in the links i will show here look even more similar to Ethiopians in shape but they are quiet often found here in Anatolia Turkey, and usually they have been called as Ottoman origin like:

described as 17th century Turkish buckler,
http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=3584

same model with upper link, this time having exactly the same German tokens of mine
http://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetai...2550302&aiid=2


http://www.czernys.com/auctions_lot....=34023&asta=24

in hermann-historica there are several more with coins from different auctions but i am unable to get their links. They describe Ottoman and/or Caucassian as origin.

I think it was some kind of a fashion once, but which century is that 'once'?

You can find exactly the same buckler in "islamic weapons" Anthony c Tirri p121
fig 64: Ottoman bucklers with Nurnberg coins nailed on as trophy. 17th century

It seems to me this application of coins/tokens is most likely a traditional extension of varying practices.
In describing Turkish armour in his "Oriental Armour" (1967, p.63), H.R.Robinson notes that among the 'spahis' the mail shirts were among the last armour discarded, except the shields, and that ,"...the attachment of brass stars, studs and mounted jewels was not an uncommon means employed to embellish the plain undecorated mail shirt in the 16th century, a custom found also found in Russia and eastern Europe, and no doubt a survival from the habit of attaching protective amulets in the vital areas of the mail".

It does seem possible that this may fall in line with the highly superstitious period in Germany during the Thirty Years War where certain coins were believed to ward off bullets and used as amulets. This became one element of these applications which became known as 'Passau Art', the term used rather generically.

The application of coins to various weapons is well known, as in Arabia where Venetian ducats were used, as well as Austrian thalers.

Robert Elgood in "The Arms and Armour of Arabia" (1994) notes that ordinary people in Syria wear daggers with money nailed to the hilt.
He also notes a reference from G.Wyman Bury ("The Land of Uz", London, 1911) :
"...his dagger sheath was silver, heavily studded with cornelians, and on the hilt shone discs of gold".
The discs of gold were Venetian ducats (mushakhkhas) or replicas which are frequently used in SW Arabia for decorating weapons.

It seems that the practice of applying coins to hilts is well known in Ethiopia where the pommel of shotels often have a Maria Theresa thaler emplaced. The silver thaler, seemingly most dated 1780, became the currency of trade in the Middle East, and became known as the Levantine thaler.
While these applications seem mostly to imply quality and wealth, as well as aesthetic appeal, the idea of the touch coin (good luck charm) or apotropaic value cannot be discounted.

In Mexico it is not uncommon to see the sabres of Mexican rurales of the 19th century with pesos nailed to the pommel. In ancient Roman times a coin was often placed under the mast for protection against the perils of the sea.

The use of these German tokens seems likely following a generally held tradition mostly in a decorative sense, but recalling the apotropaic and popular beliefs previously in mind.

All best regards,
Jim